Undercover operation led to arrest in drugs case

AN undercover Garda operation led to the arrest of a man on charges of possession of illegal drugs for the purpose of selling or supplying.

Oluwashina Omoniyo, who was also charged with one count of money laundering, was ordered to undertake 240 hours of community service when he appeared at Letterkenny Circuit Court.

The charges relate to January 6, 2022, at Port Road, Letterkenny.

Giving evidence, Det. Garda Declan O’Keefe told the court that an undercover detective had made contact with the accused via a telephone number which had been discovered to involve drug dealings in the town.

The detective was given €100 and ordered to make contact with the accused who asked him to ring him back in 20 minutes.

A second call followed and the detective was asked to walk up to a business premises on the Port Road where he remained outside.

The accused subsequently arrived on an electric scooter wearing a black track suit.

He handed over a ziplock bag to the Garda Detective who handed over €100.

The contents of the bag was analysed and found to be cocaine.

The accused, who had been observed in different areas of Letterkenny on the day, was arrested by arrangement and conveyed to the local Garda Station.

He had pleaded guilty to the charge in January last.

Detective O’Keefe agreed with defence counsel, Patricia McLaughlin SC that her client had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

He was reported to be of good character and was now employed in a bookmakers in Dublin. He and his partner had a child.

Ms McLaughlin said her client attributed his actions to “poor decision making” which had been motivated by financial gain.

“He had distanced himself from those negative peers and has not come to any adverse attention since or before. He has got his life back on track and his child has had a positive influence on his life.”

Imposing sentence, Judge John Aylmer said the accused had been under “negative influences’ at the time of the offence and it had been out of character for him.

The offence was placed at the lower end of the scale.

Referring to the mitigating circumstances, Judge Aylmer said the accused was of good character and the offence had been something of an aberration.

A Probation report had indicated that he was at a low risk of reoffending.

“It’s clear that he has turned his life around and is surrounded by positive influences and is remorseful.”

He sentenced Omoniyo to undertake 240 hours of community service in lieu of 12 months imprisonment.

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