A Syrian refugee, who now has status in Canada, has been jailed for three years after he smuggled over €400,000 worth of cannabis to Ireland.
The Circuit Criminal Court heard how Mohamad Alaha (20) who has an address in Canada, arrived on a flight to Dublin airport on the 26th of April 2025.
When proceeding through Terminal 1 arrivals he began to behave suspiciously before he approached the customs red stream and effectively “handed over” his bag, by putting it on the scanner when he was “beside” the exit door of the airport.
Prosecuting counsel, Simon Donagh BL, argued that the accused had been seen “sweating” and that the bag was soon discovered to contain vacuum packs of cannabis with a street value of €404,560.
After Gardaí arrived at 10:38am, the accused was arrested, but was deemed to be unfit for interview for a time.
When he was interviewed he made “full admissions” in respect of the drugs, explaining that he had carried them in efforts to mitigate a debt he has built up due to his own drug use. Alaha came to court on a signed plea of breaches of Section 15A of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977.
Defending counsel, Mark Thompson Gorlimund argued that his client “basically gave up the drugs” by walking towards custom while “sweating profusely” and put the bag down.
Mr. Thompson Gorlimund said that his client had fled Syria in 2016 with his family and had been sponsored by his aunt to move to Canada.
He said that Alaha had been sent by his family to Egypt for drug treatment, however Judge Orla Crowe, having read a report from the centre, noted that the chief purpose of the treatment had been for “major depressive disorder”.
In attempts to alleviate his dept, he had sold his laptop, car, and other items.
The accused has no previous convictions and his “choice was somewhat limited” in how to deal with his debt, Mr. Thompson Gorlimund said.
He argued that his client was “caught red handed in quite peculiar circumstances” and that “if it wasn’t for his actions he probably wouldn’t be here.”
Judge Crowe noted that the accused had the benefit of a clean record and that he was far from home and unlikely to enjoy supports while in custody like visits from family and friends.
She said that his offending was at the lower end of the scale, and that he has no financial interest in the drugs.
However, the court stressed the serious nature of importing narcotics into the country noting that this was “inflicting harm on the people of Ireland,”.
The court set a headline sentence of six years before reducing this to an effective sentence of three years having regard to the mitigating circumstances.
The state was granted a destruction order in respect of the cannabis.