Man who flew cocaine in from France jailed for 11 years

A former company director who flew €8.4 million worth of cocaine from France into Ireland two years ago has been jailed for 11 years.

Tim Gilchrist, 56, from Mavis Bank, Newrath in Co Waterford, was arrested with 120kg of the drug in his car after he landed in a light aircraft at Abbeyshrule Aerodrome in Co Longford, on 4 August 2022.

Gilchrist claimed he used the Cessna aircraft for “leisure” flying but smuggled the drugs under duress after two men arrived at his door and threatened to harm his daughter.

There were no customs officers at either the Dieppe aerodrome in France or at Abbeyshrule in Longford, which was described in court as a “complete open corridor” for drugs and other smuggling.

Judge Keenan Johnson said that there should be a significant upgrade in security at airfields around the country with 24-hour checks because the country has been left “unacceptably exposed” to the importation of vast quantities of drugs.

Gilchrist lived and worked in road maintenance in Waterford and flew in a Cessna light aircraft for leisure.

However, he flew out to France on 3 August 2022 and flew back in to Abbeyshrule Aerodrome at 5.25pm the following day with €8.4m worth of cocaine.

He drove off with the drugs in an Alfa Romeo but had been under surveillance and was followed and stopped by officers from the Garda Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau at Lough Owel near Mullingar.

They searched the car and found 120kg of cocaine in five black holdall bags and a suitcase in the boot.

Detective Sergeant Ciaran Cummins said Gilchrist told gardaí that two men had arrived at his home late at night a month before and told him they knew he flew a plane and would be doing something for them.

He claimed he told them he was “going to the guards” but was told if he did not do it he “would have another problem” and his daughter was threatened.

He also said he was told he “had no choice” and was told to buy a mobile phone and fly to Dieppe in France.

Gardaí checked out his story which did not stand up.

The flight took three-and-a-half hours and there were no customs officers or security checks at either the French or the Irish aerodromes.

Defence counsel Michael O’Higgins said it was “a complete open corridor” which Judge Johnson described as “extraordinary.”

Gilchrist had two phones, one which he had bought just two months earlier and was used solely for the drug trafficking operation.

He sent and received messages from people near the aerodrome in Abbeyshrule shortly before landing on 4 August.

One message, from a man called Sean, warned him as he flew in that there were “a lot of guys around, be careful.”

Gilchrist was a director of a number of meat companies all over the world, including in Uganda in Africa.

He owns his own home and car but is currently on disability.

Judge Johnson said Gilchrist willingly got involved in drug trafficking for financial gain and the court is therefore obliged to impose a significant sentence.

Gilchrist, he said, offered limited assistance to the investigation and was caught red handed.

He did not provide material assistance in relation to the “masterminds” behind the importation but his “omerta” is not surprising.

He also said the court would not take “duress” into account when sentencing. It is clear he was aware of what he was doing and played more than a “peripheral” part, Judge Johnson said.

He sentenced Gilchrist to 11-and-a-half years in prison with the final six months suspended to allow rehabilitation and reintegration into society.

The judge also said that Gilchrist and another man had flown the same route six times over the previous six months, including a similar flight the month before he was caught with the drugs.