The court has heard a garda dressed up as a postal worker to catch a young man attempting to import almost a kilo of cannabis into Tralee three years ago.
23-year-old Haroon Ibrahim, formerly of 14 Manor Park, Tralee, was jailed for 15 months by Judge Ronan Munro for his role in trying to import the drugs in July 2023.
The drugs were contained in a package addressed to a second man, referred to in court as Mr. B, who has fled Ireland.
The court was told that in July 2023, customs officers encountered a package destined for Tralee, containing suspected drugs.
CCTV footage showed Mr Ibrahim and another man, Mr B., calling in to the Edward Street post office on 20th July that year to collect the package, but were told by postal workers that it was not available.
Four days later, Mr Ibrahim again called to the post office to the collect the package, when a garda who had dressed up as a postal worker identified himself, and Mr Ibrahim fled the scene and escaped.
Two other men, including Mr B, were waiting outside in a car; they were arrested at the scene and questioned, but denied knowledge of the package. Mr B said he believed he was picking up a jacket.
The package was addressed to Mr B, at a property on Rae Street in Tralee, and gardaí searched the house the next day; it was there they found Mr Ibrahim, and he was arrested.
The package contained 912 grams of cannabis, valued at €18,240; the court heard Mr Ibrahim and Mr B were involved in the importation, but Mr B is a foreign national who is now outside the jurisdiction.
Mr Ibrahim was eventually charged in October last year, with the delay blamed on getting a certificate from Forensic Science Ireland for the drugs.
His Senior Counsel Donal O’Sullivan, with barrister Richard Liston instructed by solicitor Pat Mann, said Mr Ibrahim came from a respectable family who came to Ireland from Afghanistan around 15 years ago.
Mr Ibrahim admitted giving evidence himself that he lived an aimless life, but he now wants to qualify as a welder and is in school in prison.
Addressing the judge directly, Mr Ibrahim said, “All I want to ask is just give me a chance please, I want to do better”.
Taking account of those factors, as well as his early guilty plea, Judge Munro sentenced him to four years, with the final two years and nine months suspended.
The remaining 15-month prison sentence was backdated to October, meaning he has less than eleven months to serve.
