The now defendant told Drogheda gardaí he would not have agreed to accept a package if he had known it contained cannabis
A garda has told Dundalk Circuit Court that a 28 year old man with no previous convictions, who was arrested after he collected almost €276,000 worth of cannabis in Drogheda, was a vulnerable young man who was used by an Albanian gang.
The court heard at the time, the defendant's partner needed medical treatment for a brain aneurysm and he had been told he would be paid €1,000 if he accepted delivery of a package from Spain.
After the cannabis was discovered by customs officers, local gardaí made a controlled delivery to an address on John Street, Drogheda on August 24th 2021.
Initially there was no response to the knock on the door, and when they rang the phone number on the parcel, the defendant asked them to leave it at a shop next door.
It was left in a backroom there and they watched as Azem Balla of Fair Street, Drogheda collected two packages.
He was arrested as he returned to his car and denied during his Garda interview having anything to do with the drugs.
He said a gang from Albania had told him to collect a package of clothes from Spain and said if he had known it was cannabis he would not have collected it.
The investigating garda confirmed to the Defence that Mr Balla's girlfriend needed money for medical treatment, but she subsequently passed away on the morning she was due to undergo it in Croatia
The court also heard within a short time of that bereavement, the defendant also lost a father figure who died in a freak workplace accident in Albania.
The Drogheda-based Garda said the defendant was a hard working vulnerable young man who was used, and had been discarded since by the gang involved - adding that he was of no interest to the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau and "he's of no interest to us".
Judge Dara Hayes said it is a slightly unusual case and put the case back to January 16th for finalisation.
