Dealer banged up for 15 years ran Dublin drug cell for mob led by 2 brothers before €9m secret compartment op smashed

The Irish Sun

16-07-2025

A DRUG dealer who had part of his nose removed after a 'chronic cocaine habit' left him with a deviated septum was banged up for 15 years today.
Andrew Pender, 52, had operated under the radar while working at the top tier of a
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Andrew Pender has been banged up for 15 years
Credit: Colin Keegan/Collins
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He carried out drug drops as he ferried gear and cash around the capital
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Assistant Commissioner Paul Cleary said it was a 'great and significant result'
Credit: Collins Courts
He carried out
Dad-of-four Pender was caged over a €9million seizure of cocaine, cannabis, MDMA and ketamine from a shipping container.
Cops also found €1.1million in cash, which was split into 16 separate bales and wrapped in duct tape.
Pender had pleaded guilty to drug trafficking, money laundering offences as well as the possession of a full
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He also admitted to having two vehicles — a Peugeot car and a Mercedes Luton van — which were fitted with secret compartments for drug trafficking.
They have been long in operation, filling the void left by their murdered associate Eamon 'The Don' Dunne in 2010.
The gang have been high-priority targets for Gardai for a number of years, as well as the
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Pender ran their drug cell in Dublin. But it was smashed following a lengthy and complex probe by the Dublin Crime Response Team, which involved lots of surveillance.
Det Insp Ken ­Holohan said Pender was stopped in a 19-D Peugeot car on the Finglas Road, in Dublin after 6pm on July 19, 2024.
COP RAID
A sum of €9,000 in cash was found along with a small quantity of cocaine, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard.
Cops then raided a premises at Woodfield, Ballymacarney, The Ward, on the Dublin/
Pender, of Tallaght, had been renting a shipping container there at a cost of €200 per month.
Inside it, €8.9million of cocaine, cannabis, MDMA and ketamine was found. The €1.1million in cash was seized from a Mercedes van.
BRANDED COKE
Pictures of the drugs show the coke was branded 'Route 66' while further drugs were branded 'Dior'.
This is usually done to indicate which drugs packages are going to other gangs lower down the chain.
A full Garda uniform, a cop stab vest and an official utility belt were also discovered in a barrel.
Another two properties linked to Pender in Tallaght were searched, with a further €44,690 recovered.
SHELL COMPANIES
The court heard Pender had set up shell companies as a front to cover for the movement of the gear. This included Tech Recovery, with its livery put on a van.
Our pictures also show where the secret compartments were fitted to conceal the drugs and cash.
Judge Orla Crowe said Pender was the manager of the 'entire cell of a drug distribution network in the Dublin area', adding there were 'no persons higher up nationally' in the operation than him.
She told his sentencing hearing that Gardai were satisfied he was not under pressure or any threat to run this operation.
HEALTH ISSUES
And she flagged how he did not assist in the probe.
In mitigation, the judge noted that Pender — who only had three convictions for road traffic offences before this — had
A previous
He also suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a group of lung conditions that cause breathing difficulties.
JAIL SENTENCE
Judge Crowe also noted his good references from family members.
But she jailed him for 15 years. His sentence was backdated when he went into ­custody on July 7, with credit for three months on remand.
His barrister pleaded for a portion to be suspended — but the judge rejected it.
Pender, who stood just outside the dock, showed no emotion as he was given his sentence today.
'GREAT RESULT'
Speaking afterwards, Assistant Commissioner Paul Cleary said it was a 'great and significant result'.
He declared: 'Andrew Pender was managing and controlling a sophisticated drugs cell. He was responsible for it.
'He was also observed personally delivering large quantities of drugs into communities around our city. It was a significant result and very much targeted at the middle-tier, middle-level drug-dealing gangs.'
The top cop said officers were not aware what the use of the Garda uniform was for but said: 'It was a sinister element and shows the level of sophistication this particular mid-tier group had.'
Cleary said the DCRT has seized over €48million in drugs and €14million in cash since it was set up in January 2023, with further 'live and ongoing' investigations.
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The coke was branded 'Route 66' while further drugs were branded 'Dior'
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Judge Crowe said Pender was the manager of the 'entire cell of a drug distribution network in the Dublin area'