A court today jailed a Dublin taxi driver for four and a half years after he admitted to transporting €200,000 worth of cocaine.
The court heard that the man had an upstanding work record and had become involved in the transport of the drugs to clear a debt, The Irish Times reports.
Alan Rowe, 58, of Dublin 8, told the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court he had agreed to transport the cocaine to pay off a drug debt that grew from a cocaine habit he developed in his forties following the collapse of his marriage.
Rowe plead guilty to possession of drugs for sale or supply at Collierstown, Co. Meath on January 22, 2009.
Garda Stephen O’Keefe told Sinead McMullen BL, prosecuting, that gardai followed Mr. Rowe on foot of a confidential tip. Gardai stopped Mr. Rowe’s car and found six blocks of cocaine in the boot. The drugs carried an estimated street value of €207,108. Gardai later searched Mr. Rowe’s home, where they found €58,000 worth of cannabis. A search on Rowe’s business on North King Street, Dublin found €6,000 of amphetamines.
The court heard Rowe had worked hard his entire life, including a start as a messenger boy for RTE and founding his own car parts business in Smithfield.
Gda O’Keefe agreed Rowe was very remorseful, regretted his actions and is a low risk of re-offending.
The court was told Rowe had begun using drugs in the late nineties following the breakup of his marriage. This drug was serious, the court heard, and a stark contrast to his once law-abiding and “conforming” life.
Rowe fled Ireland following his arrest. He took a job as a night manager of a Holiday Inn in Brighton before Gardai found him and extradited him back to Ireland.
