The fourth man involved in the biggest drug seizure in the countries history was yesterday sentenced to 10 years prison at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

Gerard Hagan (24) from Hollowcroft, Liverpool pictured at Cork Circuit Criminal Court where he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his part the huge drugs haul at Dunlough Bay, Mizen Head in July 2007. Picture: Daragh MacSweeney/Provision

Gerard Hagan, 24, of 85 Hollow Croft, Liverpool, pleaded guilty to charges of attempting to import at least €440m worth of cocaine in an international drug smuggling operation.

Hagen, the youngest of the men involved, was responsible for ensuring the shipment of drugs were delivered on board a catamaran off the coast of Trinidad and then transferred to Ireland.

However, the RIB which was to take the 1,500 kilos of high-purity cocaine broke down due to its engine having been filled with diesel instead of unleaded petrol and the vessel subsequently ran into difficulty at Dunlough Bay, West Cork, forcing Hagan to swim ashore where he then raised the alarm.

When taking into account his guilty plea and the minor nature of his past convictions, Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin was satisfied to hand down a more lenient sentence to Hagan then that of his co-accused. In July of this year, the three other men received sentences ranging from 25-30 years for their part in the operation.

Comments (0) »

Show/Hide comment form

Name

Email

Title

Comment

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment