A Brazilian man who agreed to swallow 85 pellets of cocaine and import the drugs to Ireland has been jailed for two and half years.
Marcos Da Silva Generino (21) told gardaí in interview, with the assistance of an interpreter, that he was to be paid the equivalent of €3,000 to transport the drugs. He said he needed that money because his mother was very unwell, the family had no health insurance and they were under financial pressure.
Da Silva Generino pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of cocaine for sale or supply and importation of drugs into Dublin on January 15, 2021. The cocaine, which weighed 966.5 grammes, had a street value of €67,655. He has no previous convictions.
Michael O’Higgins SC, defending, told Judge Martin Nolan that his client was “brutally exploited” by others. He said the risk to couriers such as Da Silva Generino was very high and that if the pellets had burst while they were still in his body the consequences would have been catastrophic.
Katherine McGillicuddy BL, prosecuting said that Da Silva Generino was stopped in Dublin Airport after he flew in from Brazil. His baggage was x-rayed and custom officials sourced an interpreter to question him as to the purpose of his visit.
Initially Da Silva Generino said he was in Ireland for a two-week holiday but he later admitted that he had ingested pellets of cocaine. He showed them six such capsules from his underwear.
He was taken to Beaumont Hospital where he was monitored before he passed 85 pellets of cocaine.
Judge Nolan accepted that Da Silva Generino had made admissions to gardaí and had transported the cocaine for reward.
He said the man was acting out of desperation because his mother needed the money and he succumbed to temptation.
Judge Nolan took into account his admissions, co-operation, lack of previous convictions and the fact that serving time in prison in Ireland would be more difficult for him.
