Wicklow Man Jailed For Role In Multi-Million-Euro Drug Operation

The operation involved transporting cannabis in a fake shoe box consignment.

Ryon Fitzpatrick, of Cookstown Road in Enniskerry was deemed to be at around the mid-level of the criminal organisation.

He was arrested on the 23rd of October 2020 after Gardaí swooped on the gang as they prepared to enter a derelict field in Swords, Co. Dublin.

Inside a van they stopped were shoe boxes, all of which were filled with cannabis.

A total of 304 kilos of the drug was seized.

That amounts to just over €6 million worth.

The drugs had come into Ireland in a shipment from Bilbao in Spain.

Customs intercepted it and a surveillance operation led gardai to the site in Swords.

Fitzpatrick, who was driving the lookout car, fled to Spain afterwards, claiming his life was under threat.

He was extradited back to Ireland last year, and jailed today for 6.5 years.

Two others were jailed previously for their roles in the operation.