By Andrew Carey
A GAMBLING addict who struggled with his mortgage, tried to pay off a debt to a criminal gang by storing guns and almost €1million worth of drugs.
John Ryan, (46) of Airfield Terrace, St Patrick’s Road,Limerick rented an apartment on the Ennis Road where he stored the drugs and guns for almost nine months before Gardai caught him.
Following a period of surveillance, Ryan, who had no previous convictions and hadn’t come to Garda attention previously, was confronted outside the apartment by members of the Divisional drug squad and the Armed Rapid Response unit along with gardaí from Henry Street and Mayorstone stations.
He was found with a small quantity of cannabis in the van he was driving. However a set keys in his pocket were for the apartment where the drugs were found. A Walter pistol and a .38 calibre revolver with 32 rounds of ammunition were also hidden above a wardrobe.
Ryan did not have any trappings of wealth, in fact prosecution counsel John O’Sullivan said the father of one had run further into debt such was the trap he was caught in.
Described as a “quartermaster”, Ryan said he knew that he was key to the operation but financially he was on the “lowest rung of the ladder”.
When Gardai raided the apartment at Belfield Gardens, the contraband was found along with equipment to cut, bag and distribute the heroin, cocaine, cannabis, MDMA tablets and other drugs that had a total street value of €918,737.
A box of cat litter was used to absorb the smell of ammonia used as part of the drugs mixing operation.
Sergeant Sandra Heelan, of the Divisional Drugs Unit, said the fact that Ryan had never come to Garda attention before was one of the reasons he was recruited by the gang.
He was struggling with a serious gambling problem and a €10,000 debt. He admitted working as a mule for the gang who would give him 20 minutes notice of where to collect and drop the drugs.
He was in fear of naming those in charge and gardaí accepted it was a genuine fear. He tried a number of times to get out of the grip of the gang but was told in no uncertain terms of the consequences.
Defence counsel Andrew Sexton said his client was still in debt and living a nightmare but accepted his actions had “contributed to society’s nightmare”.
Judge Carroll Moran also stated that the “very significant” amount of drugs, their variety and the guns that were stored constituted a real threat to society.
He took into account Mr Ryan’s previous good character but described the amount of drugs involved as an aggravating factor adding that over half of the drugs seized was heroin “the most insidious of all drugs.”
Imposing a five year jail term, Judge Moran said that Ryan had become “trapped in a situation he couldn’t escape from”.
