A CORK man was remanded on bail after pleading guilty to possessing over €137,000 worth of cannabis at a growhouse in Limerick City.
William Mullane (34), with an address at The Orchard, Skibbereen, County Cork, admitted the offence before Limerick Circuit Criminal Court.
The offence, contrary to Section 15a of the Misuse of Drugs Act, carries a mandatory minimum 10-year jail sentence unless the court is satisfied exceptional circumstances would mitigate against imposing the prescriptive mandatory minimum sentence.
Mr Mullane’s barrister, Lorcan Connolly, said the case against his client “involved a cannabis growhouse at a former Chinese take-away premises” located at Clare Street in April 2024.
Judge Colin Daly acceded to an application by Mr Connolly for a probation report be prepared for the court in respect of Mr Mullane.
The judge remanded him on continuing bail for sentence on January 26.
Last April, a father of five and Chinese national, Yuen Chan (64), of Clare Street, was jailed for five and a half years in respect of the same drugs factory after he pleaded guilty to possessing cannabis, cultivating cannabis, and allowing his former take-away premises to be used as a cannabis growhouse.
When Gardaí raided the former Chinese food premises they recovered 35 cannabis plants at various stages of growth and with a total value of €137,906.
Mr Chan’s sentencing hearing was told that an electrician had installed a sophisticated wiring system to bypass the premises’ electricity meter as a counter-forensic measure so that the operators of the growhouse could avoid paying for a significant amount of electricity required to heat and light the cannabis plants, and also avoid the radar of the ESB who might have flagged any suspicious high level power usage with An Garda Síochána.
Detective Garda Mike O’Grady, Limerick Garda Divisional Drugs Unit, told Chan’s sentencing hearing that Gardaí received confidential information about the growhouse operation and the drug squad officers swooped on the premises after they were granted a search warrant at Limerick District Court.
When Gardaí raided the three-storey property, Chan was found hiding in a rubbish bin. Three other men who were inside the premises at the time fled but were arrested at the rear of the Clare Street property.
Detective Garda O’Grady told the hearing that Gardaí found a lighting system, fan assisted extraction system, water tanks, heaters, as well as sheets of foil on the walls for insulation to aid the growth of the cannabis plants.
A leaf-trimming machine was also found in the growhouse which was used to assist in harvesting new cannabis buds, and a crop of fresh seedlings were ready to be planted when gardai raided and closed down the drugs operation.
Prosecuting barrister John O’Sullivan told the hearing that Chan had emigrated to Ireland from Hong Kong over 20 years previously and that he had worked as a chef before purchasing the Clare Street take-away.
Chan’s barrister, Mark Nicholas, told the court that “financial hardship” brought Chan into the drugs trade, that he had “no trappings of wealth”, and that he suffered from kidney disease.