Man jailed for transporting €500K of cannabis from Thailand was headed for Donegal

A UK national has been jailed for his role in transporting just under half a million euro worth of cannabis from Thailand, destined for Donegal.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Jamie Kearns (22) of Arley, Coventry, United Kingdom, came forward on signed pleas from the District Court for possession of drugs and the importation of drugs on February 12, 2025, at Terminal One, Dublin Airport. He has no previous convictions.

Passing sentence, Judge Martin Nolan said this defendant brought drugs from Thailand and was to deliver them to Donegal.

Judge Nolan said Kearns comes before this court with signed pleas, which is to his credit, and has no previous convictions. He noted that he made admissions, that he comes from a good family and was 21 at the time of this offence.

The judge said: “There is a mandatory minimum of 10 years, which I feel I can depart from”. He noted that this case involves a large amount of drugs. He said Kearns “was young at the time and young people make bad decisions”.

Judge Nolan said he undoubtedly deserves a custodial sentence and sentenced him to three and a half years in prison, backdated to the date he entered custody on this matter. Garda Peter Mullins from Dublin Airport told Aoife McNickle, BL, prosecuting, that he was contacted by airport customs who had randomly stopped Kearns. When they asked him where he was travelling from, he said Thailand via Doha.

When asked if he had packed his own bag, he replied, “No”. Cannabis weighing 24.472kg, with a value of €489,440, was found in 48 vacuum-packed bags.

Garda Mullins said Kearns was arrested, interviewed, and made full admissions. He told gardaí he had been backpacking around Thailand and had a drug debt of £4,000. Kearns, who has family in Thailand and has visited there on numerous occasions.

Kearns was approached by an individual in Thailand and asked to transport the drugs to Ireland. Kearns took full responsibility for the drugs, and the court was told that the final destination for the drugs was Donegal. The court heard that Kearns previously had a drug debt, which his father cleared on his behalf.

Garda Mullins agreed with Padraig Dwyer, SC, defending, that his client was cooperative and accepted that this was the first time Kearns had done something like this. The garda agreed with counsel that Kearns has been in custody since his arrest and that it was fair to say that he was a “mule” in this offending.

Mr Dwyer said his client is a young man who finds himself in a very serious position. He described Kearns as a “person of good character and was not on garda radar nationally or internationally.”

Counsel said his client has never been to Ireland before and is aware of the seriousness of this situation. He outlined that his client engaged in this offending in the hope of clearing his own drug debt. Mr Dwyer asked the court to depart from the mandatory minimum ten-year sentence due to his client's early guilty plea. He told the court that upon his release, Kearns plans to return to the UK and live a law-abiding life. He asked the court to be as lenient as possible.