A drugs courier who was caught in Donegal with more than €70,000 of cocaine in the boot of a car has been freed from jail having served 20 months on remand in prison.
Amin Rhamahi was caught by Gardai at Listillion outside Letterkenny with the drugs on August 26th, 2022.
The Algerian national has been in custody in Castlerea Prison since being caught.
The 48-year-old appeared at Letterkenny Circuit Court this week having pleaded guilty to having drugs for sale or supply.
Garda Damian Maughan gave details of the circumstances which led to Rhamahi’s arrest.
He told the court how Gardai had been tipped off that the occupants of a Suzuki Swift car acting suspiciously between Donegal Town and Ballybofey on the day in question.
Garda Maughan said he was the driver of an unmarked patrol car which spotted the car and stopped it at Listillion at approximately 5.15pm.
The accused was the front seat passenger in the car and Gardai said his eyes were glassy and he appeared nervous.
While questioning the passenger and the driver, Garda Sergeant Maurice Doyle searched the boot of the car and found what appeared to be drugs in a dog feed bag under some clothing.
The materials were sent to Forensic Science Ireland it showed the materials was 1,000 grammes of cocaine valued at €70,308.
AS well as an iPad and backpack, Gardai also seized £1,440 Stg which the accused said was his life-savings.
During interview when arrested, Rhamahi, with addresses in both Portnablagh and Dundalk, told how he had become addicted to cannabis and alcohol and owed a debt of €3,000.
He told how he had been instructed to initially go to West Cork and then to Athlone to collect a package of money and to deliver it to Donegal.
CCTV footage at a petrol station in Athlone showed a package being passed from car to another.
Rhamahi took to the witness stand and said he was ashamed and embarrassed by his actions and he wished to apologise.
He explained his addiction background and explained how he has struggled with prison life since first going into custody.
He said he only had one relative who was a cousin living in London who had been like a brother to him but that he had died from cancer while he had been in prison.
He said he had now hoped to eventually get a job and that people would forgive him and was also seeking to get a place at Cluain Mhuire Treatment Centre when he got out of prison where he was now working in the kitchen.
“I am begging the Judge to give me a second chance. I’m sorry again,” he said.
His barrister, Mr Colm Smyth, SC, said his client’s last conviction was for an issue surrounding using a false passport which was more than ten years ago and said he had no similar convictions for those before the court.
Mr Smyth said he was asking the Judge to be as lenient as possible saying he was hopeful that his client could get treatment once released from prison adding that he has had time to reflect on his life and his wrongdoing.
Passing sentence, Judge John Aylmer said he placed the incident at the power end of the scale of such cases saying it was obvious that the accused was a courier.
Notwithstanding this was a significant amount of drugs, Judge Aylmer said the drugs were in his possession for a short period of time and that a sentence of three years was merited before mitigation.
He said that the Probation Service Report indicated that if he can deal with his addictions he can play a positive role in society and gain employment.
Judge Aylmer imposed a sentence of three years but said he was suspending the balance of the sentence until the day after his sentence was imposed to take into account the time Rhamahi had spent in custody.
This allowed Rhamahi to collect his belongings from Castlerea Prison and get travel passes.