A MAN with an address in Castletownbere who was caught with €830,000 worth of cannabis herb, which arrived into the country hidden inside wooden shelves, has been jailed for six years and nine months.
BY ISABEL HAYES
The pallet of flatpack furniture came under suspicion by customs officers when a sniffer dog indicated to them that it contained drugs in February last year, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard this week.
A controlled delivery was carried out with gardaí in surveillance and Arnoldas Paleckis was caught when he arrived in a rental van to pick it up.
When gardaí smashed through the wooden shelves inside the flatpack furniture, they found cannabis herb with a street value of €830,000 inside the hollowed out shelves.
Paleckis (33) with an address at Mariners View, Castletownbere, pleaded guilty to one count of possessing the drugs for sale or supply at Newcastle, Co Dublin, on February 13th 2024.
He also pleaded guilty to having an encrypted phone for the commission of an offence.
He has one previous conviction – for the production of a drug – in the UK, for which he was sentenced to two years in prison, prosecuting barrister Olan Callinan said.
Defence barrister Paul Murray said his client had run up a gambling debt of €5,000 and was put under pressure to carry out the offence.
He said the guilty plea was of benefit to the court.
During the sentencing, Judge Martin Nolan accepted Paleckis was remorseful for his actions and was put under pressure to pick up the drugs.
But he said Paleckis was ‘a mature man’ who made the decision to become involved.
He jailed him for six years and nine months.
