A taxi driver has been jailed for 18 months for helping to import 4 million euro worth of cigarettes into Dublin port.
The court heard the 41 year old, who has a background in freight work, was afraid of people higher up in the operation.
41 year old Graham Costigan from Santry Court pleaded guilty to providing the necessary paperwork to smuggle in 10 million cigarettes into Dublin port in September 2013.
They had a potential value of 4 million euro but gardai got wind of the operation and followed the truck from Singapore into Rotterdam and then into Dublin Port.
The accused, who has no previous convictions, had run into financial problems after he lost a furniture business in 2011.
The court heard, he was in fear of others who were higher up in the smuggling operation.
The Judge accepted that the accused wasn’t the instigator or recipient of the cigarettes but she said he had become involved with his eyes open to receive monetary gain. He was sentenced to 18 months behind bars.
