Pubdate: Wed, 01 Nov 2000 Source: Irish Examiner (Ireland) Copyright: Examiner Publications Ltd, 2000 Contact: http://www.examiner.ie/ Author: Michael Doyle DRUGS COURIERS EACH JAILED FOR SIX YEARS Two men who were caught with cannabis valued at pounds 145,000 have each been jailed for six years by Judge Elizabeth Dunne at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. Englishman Roy Foster, 52, and Dutchman Jan August Neijens, 49, both with addresses in the south of Spain, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply and to unlawful importation of the drugs on February 5, 2000. Detective Garda Danny Kelly told Mr Paul Coffey BL, prosecuting, that on foot of confidential information he got a search warrant for a flat in Abbey Street, Dublin. Foster was there when the search began and Neijens arrived in a taxi shortly afterwards. The gardai located 40 bars of cannabis on a couch and another 16 bars were found strapped to Neijens' body. A further two bars were found in a hold all bag he was carrying. Garda Kelly said Foster had also transported an amount of cannabis in a similar fashion. Both men had travelled separately from Malaga that day with the bars and had flown to Dublin from Madrid by different routes, Neijens via Barcelona and Foster via Brussels. Neijens was paid 135,000 Pesetas for transporting four and half kilos, while Foster was paid a similar amount for transporting five kilos. Garda Kelly said both men admitted their part in the offences at the very start and were very co operative. George Birmingham SC, for Neijens, said his client moved to Malaga in 1994 after the death of his wife. He referred to him as a `mule' who was being used by others to import the drugs. Michael O'Higgins SC, for Foster, said his client moved to the Costa del Sol in 1998 to live with his father after his marriage broke up. He had a couple of businesses that were in trouble financially. Judge Dunne said under the Criminal Justice Act of 1999 the minimum sentence she could impose for offenders in possession of drugs in excess of pounds 10,000 was 10 years. She did, however, say the Act also provided for the sentence to be at the liberty of the court if certain exceptional circumstances existed. - --- MAP posted-by: Kirk Bauer