Blazej Szczepanski (41) with an address in Wloclawek, Poland pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis herb for sale or supply
The man was caught at Dublin Airport (Image: )
A man caught with €660,000 of cannabis herb in Dublin Airport has been jailed for three years.
Blazej Szczepanski (41) with an address in Wloclawek, Poland pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis herb for sale or supply. He has no previous convictions here or in any other jurisdiction.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Szczepanski was detected by customs officers during a random check after he got off a flight from Dubai on December 2, 2024.
An investigating garda told Marc Murphy BL, prosecuting, that the defendant had travelled from Thailand and was in the process of changing planes to get a connecting flight to the UK. His bag was x-rayed and 66 vacuum packed bags containing 31kg of cannabis herb were found. Szczepanski took ownership of the bag, was co-operative and made admissions when interviewed.
The garda agreed with Seamus Clarke SC, defending, that his client replied “oh my f*****g god”, when told about the amount and value of the drugs. It was further accepted that Szczepanski had been in Thailand for some time before travelling to Ireland and has been under the care of the psychiatric service while in custody.
Mr Clarke told the court his client has several mental health diagnoses including bipolar affective disorder and recurrent depressive disorder. Szczepanski was taking lithium but did not bring it with him when he travelled to Thailand. He was on medical cannabis while in Poland. While in Thailand, he started to lose control and was vulnerable to others, who got him to bring the drugs into Ireland.
A psychological report and letter of apology were among the documents provided to the court. Mr Clarke asked the court to take into account his client’s early guilty plea, remorse and lack of previous convictions. He submitted his client’s mental illness made him more vulnerable and asked for as much leniency as possible. Szczepanski intends to return to Poland upon his release from custody.
Imposing sentence, Judge Orla Crowe said the offending was “so serious” and that the court sees in almost every case the “malign influence” of illegal drugs on society. She noted the amount of drugs, Szczepanski’s mental health conditions, and that he made admissions, though he was caught “red-handed”.
She imposed a three-year sentence backdated to December 3, 2024 when he went into custody.
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