Drugs war in Mountbellew
A Polish cannabis grower living in Mountbellew, had a double barrel shotgun and an air rifle hidden in his car to protect his lucrative drugs business from a Lithuanian gang who had already stolen two kilos of the illegal harvest from him.
Gardaí who raided the home of Robert Dusza (46), at Tuam Road, Mountbellew, on April 18 last year, found €285,800 worth of cannabis plants and a bag of harvested cannabis worth €5,252, along with €10,000 in cash hidden behind a picture frame.
A follow-up search of Dusza and his car the next day revealed the two firearms, hidden under the driver’s seat, along with €1,000 cash in his wallet.
Dusza pleaded guilty before Galway Circuit Criminal Court in May to cultivating cannabis plants without a licence at the above address.
He pleaded guilty also to having a 12 gauge ‘Savage’ make Fox B model double barrel shotgun in his possession which had its serial number deliberately obliterated, along with a 177 (4.5mm) Calibre Norconia Premium model air rifle, at the above address on the same date.
Garda Cormac Bane told the sentence hearing last week that he and his colleagues uncovered a sophisticated cannabis growing factory when they searched Dusza’s house.
They found 351 cannabis plants, 102 of which were flowering and ready to be harvested, while the remaining 249 plants were in the early stages of growth.
The combined street value of the plants came to €285,800.
They also found a bag of harvested cannabis with a street value of €5,252 and the stash of cash hidden behind the picture.
Dusza was not at home when the Gardaí raided the place. They kept the house under surveillance and swooped when he returned there the next morning.
A search of his car revealed the two guns hidden under the driver’s seat.
Garda Bane said the serial number had been removed from the double barrel shotgun but Gardaí knew it had been stolen from a house in Co. Clare in 2009 and its owner was now deceased.
Dusza said he bought the guns from a Polish friend for his own protection because he had been previously robbed of his cannabis.
He admitted he had already sold one kilo of cannabis for €7,000 and while he had expected the crop he was growing at the time to yield three and a half kilos, a Lithuanian gang had already stolen two kilos from him.
“His intention was to cultivate three and a half kilos every month and send the money he made back to Poland,” Garda Bane explained.
Dusza, the court was told, had ten previous convictions, including one in 2010 for the cultivation of cannabis plants, for which he had received a suspended six-month sentence.
Garda Bane said the accused had been running a professional, highly organised business, supplying cannabis to dealers in the area. A ‘tick list’ of those dealers was found on the accused as well, he said.
With the help of a Polish interpreter, Dusza told the court he had been living in Ireland for eleven years. He said his marriage ended three years ago and he wanted to raise money for his family who were in debt in Poland.
He said he started drinking and taking drugs when his marriage ended but he had a very good partner now and no longer needed them.
Through the interpreter, Dusza asked Judge Rory McCabe not to jail him for the sake of his daughter.
He said he had the guns for four years and never harmed anyone. They just hung on the wall, he said.
Judge McCabe said Dusza should have thought of his daughter before cultivating and selling cannabis on an industrial scale.
The seriousness of the cultivation offence, he said, was highlighted by the possession of the firearm with the identity mark removed.
He then sentenced Dusza to seven years in prison for the cultivation offence and suspended the final two years for five years from the date of his release.
The judge took the firearms offence into account and ordered the confiscation of the money and the destruction of the plants, the drugs and the associated paraphernalia found in the house.