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Lorry driver stopped with €1.1m of cannabis told gardaí 'I'll smoke it tomorrow', court hears

Lorry driver stopped with €1.1m of cannabis told gardaí 'I'll smoke it tomorrow', court hears

Irish Examiner5 hours ago

'I'll smoke it tomorrow', a lorry driver stopped at Dublin Port and allegedly found transporting more than €1m worth of cannabis told investigating gardaí, a court has heard.
Andrew Cooley, aged 32, from Ballyoran, Dundalk, Co Louth, was arrested at 1.45 am on Saturday driving a truck which had arrived on a boat from Holyhead.
The father of two was charged with unlawful possession of 55.4 kg of cannabis with an estimated value of €1,108,000 and having it for the purpose of sale or supply. He appeared at Dublin District Court on Monday where Garda Dylan Mallon objected to bail due to flight risk concerns.
The garda alleged the truck was stopped, and a customs officer engaged with Mr Cooley and smelled cannabis coming from the 2011-reg white Scania. Searching the cab allegedly led to black bags on the bunk covered by clothes.
The contested bail hearing was told that there were 31 black packages alleged to have contained cannabis, and the accused had been living in the cab of his truck.
Gardai were called, and Mr Cooley was taken to Store Street station and interviewed several times. It was alleged he admitted ownership and told gardaí, 'I'll smoke it tomorrow'.
Bail hearing
The garda feared the accused would evade justice because he had travelled to Europe multiple times as a driver, and his work was transferable.
However, defence solicitor Luke Staines said information from his client's employer showed Mr Cooley had never gone to continental Europe and had only travelled in Ireland and England.
The defence stressed that Mr Cooley had ties to Ireland, had children here, and there was nothing to suggest he would leave the jurisdiction.
Mr Staines emphasised that his client could face two years on remand until his trial. The solicitor told the court the driver would obey conditions and furnish a satisfactory address.
Judge Finan said he had not given a satisfactory address as she reserved ruling on the bail application, which was adjourned until Friday, with Mr Cooley being held in custody in the meantime. Legal aid was granted.

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Trucker arrested after €1m cannabis find told gardaí: ‘I'll smoke it tomorrow', court hears
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'I'll smoke it tomorrow,' a lorry driver allegedly found transporting more than €1 million worth of cannabis told investigating gardaí, a court has heard. Andrew Cooley (32) from Ballyoran, Dundalk, Co Louth, was arrested at Dublin Port at 1.45am on Saturday driving a truck that had arrived on a boat from Holyhead. The father of two was charged with unlawful possession of 55.4kg of cannabis, with an estimated value of €1,108,000, for the purpose of sale or supply. On Monday, he appeared at Dublin District Court where Garda Dylan Mallon objected to bail due to flight risk concerns. READ MORE The garda alleged a customs officer engaged with Mr Cooley and smelled cannabis coming from the truck. A search of the cab allegedly led to finding black bags covered by clothes. The contested bail hearing was told there were 31 black packages allegedly containing cannabis. Gardaí took Mr Cooley to Store Street station and interviewed him several times. It was alleged he admitted ownership and told gardaí: 'I'll smoke it tomorrow.' The garda feared the accused would evade justice because he had travelled to Europe multiple times as a driver, and his work was transferable. Defence solicitor Luke Staines said information from his client's employer showed Mr Cooley had never gone to continental Europe and had only travelled in Ireland and England. The defence stressed that Mr Cooley has ties to Ireland and has children here, while there was nothing to suggest he would leave the jurisdiction. Mr Staines said his client could face two years on remand until his trial. The solicitor told the court the driver would obey conditions and furnish a satisfactory address. Judge Michele Finan reserved her decision on the bail application until Friday. She granted legal aid.

Lorry driver accused of having €1m cannabis for sale or supply told gardaí he'd 'smoke it tomorrow'
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A LORRY DRIVER who was allegedly found transporting more than €1m worth of cannabis told investigating gardaí he would 'smoke it tomorrow', a court has heard. Andrew Cooley, 32, from Ballyoran, Dundalk, Co Louth, was arrested at 1.45 am on Saturday driving a truck which had arrived on a boat from Holyhead. The father of two was charged with unlawful possession of 55.4 kg of cannabis with an estimated value of €1,108,000 and having it for the purpose of sale or supply. He appeared at Dublin District Court today where Garda Dylan Mallon objected to bail due to flight risk concerns. The garda alleged the truck was stopped and a customs officer engaged with Cooley and smelled cannabis coming from the 2011-reg white Scania. Searching the cab allegedly led to a discovery of black bags on the bunk covered by clothes. Advertisement The contested bail hearing was told that there were 31 black packages alleged to have contained cannabis, and the accused had been living in the cab of his truck. Gardaí were called and Cooley was taken to Store Street station and interviewed several times. It was alleged he admitted ownership and told gardaí, 'I'll smoke it tomorrow'. The garda feared the accused would evade justice because he had travelled to Europe multiple times as a driver, and his work was transferable. However, defence solicitor Luke Staines said information from his client's employer showed Cooley had never gone to continental Europe and had only travelled in Ireland and England. The defence stressed that Cooley had ties to Ireland, had children here, and there was nothing to suggest he would leave the jurisdiction. Staines emphasised that his client could face two years on remand until his trial. The solicitor told the court the driver would obey conditions and furnish a satisfactory address. Judge Finan said he had not given a satisfactory address as she reserved ruling on the bail application, which was adjourned until Friday, with Cooley being held in custody in the meantime. Legal aid was granted.

Lorry driver stopped with €1.1m of cannabis told gardaí 'I'll smoke it tomorrow', court hears
Lorry driver stopped with €1.1m of cannabis told gardaí 'I'll smoke it tomorrow', court hears

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Lorry driver stopped with €1.1m of cannabis told gardaí 'I'll smoke it tomorrow', court hears

'I'll smoke it tomorrow', a lorry driver stopped at Dublin Port and allegedly found transporting more than €1m worth of cannabis told investigating gardaí, a court has heard. Andrew Cooley, aged 32, from Ballyoran, Dundalk, Co Louth, was arrested at 1.45 am on Saturday driving a truck which had arrived on a boat from Holyhead. The father of two was charged with unlawful possession of 55.4 kg of cannabis with an estimated value of €1,108,000 and having it for the purpose of sale or supply. He appeared at Dublin District Court on Monday where Garda Dylan Mallon objected to bail due to flight risk concerns. The garda alleged the truck was stopped, and a customs officer engaged with Mr Cooley and smelled cannabis coming from the 2011-reg white Scania. Searching the cab allegedly led to black bags on the bunk covered by clothes. The contested bail hearing was told that there were 31 black packages alleged to have contained cannabis, and the accused had been living in the cab of his truck. Gardai were called, and Mr Cooley was taken to Store Street station and interviewed several times. It was alleged he admitted ownership and told gardaí, 'I'll smoke it tomorrow'. Bail hearing The garda feared the accused would evade justice because he had travelled to Europe multiple times as a driver, and his work was transferable. However, defence solicitor Luke Staines said information from his client's employer showed Mr Cooley had never gone to continental Europe and had only travelled in Ireland and England. The defence stressed that Mr Cooley had ties to Ireland, had children here, and there was nothing to suggest he would leave the jurisdiction. Mr Staines emphasised that his client could face two years on remand until his trial. The solicitor told the court the driver would obey conditions and furnish a satisfactory address. Judge Finan said he had not given a satisfactory address as she reserved ruling on the bail application, which was adjourned until Friday, with Mr Cooley being held in custody in the meantime. Legal aid was granted.

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