‘Walter Mitty’ pilot who flew €8.4m cocaine into Longford linked to ‘The Family’

Tim Gilchrist Jnr had set up a transport and logistics company the year before he was caught, and claimed to be involved in a host of business activities ranging from meat processing to mining.

Gilchrist, who was jailed for 11-and-a-half years last week, told gardaí he got involved after two men called to his home and threatened him, forcing him to fly the drugs in – but investigators believe those claims were complete rubbish.

Sources said the haul was believed to have been linked to the west Dublin crime gang known as The Family and other criminals based in Ballyfermot.

The gang are involved in large-scale heroin and cocaine trafficking and are suspected of laundering more than €100m of drug money every year.

Numerous multi-million euro drug seizures have been linked to them in recent years, while gardaí have also confiscated several firearms and millions of euro as part of operations targeting the gang.

They are top targets of the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB) and senior members of the gang are currently before the courts on charges linked to organised crime activity.

Gilchrist, with an address at Mavis Bank, Newrath, Waterford, set up a company called Each Way Transport & Logistics Ltd the year before he was caught with the drugs.

The company never filed accounts and while it is technically still a registered company, it is not doing any business.

Defence counsel Michael O’Higgins SC, said his client, despite having previously been employed in the highway maintenance sector, was someone who had not enjoyed an excessive lifestyle and whose only income was just over €200 a week in illness benefit. He described Gilchrist as a “Walter Mitty”-type character.

A director of several companies dating back to the 1990s, Gilchrist had previously been the director of African European Alliance Group Ireland Limited, which was described as being involved in the ‘sale of agricultural raw materials, live animals, textile raw materials and semi-finished goods’.

In online profiles, he described himself as the MD and CEO of the company and said he was based in Uganda.

In an exhaustive list of skills, he claimed he was a mechanic, a transport engineer, a welder, and a carpet manufacturer.

He also said he had “worked extensively in the Research and Development field of alternative energy solutions”, had “experience in modern manufacturing technology and processes” and was involved in “mining, oil, gas and coal”.

He claimed to be involved in energy sector development on a “governmental scale” and in “applications for large fleet operation to domestic transportation and power needs”. Despite all his claims, his companies never appeared to file any accounts.

Gilchrist was caught after flying the drugs into Abbeyshrule Airfield in Longford in August 2022.

Detective Garda Ciaran Cummins, of the GNDOCB, told the court of how a wide-ranging surveillance operation was put in place after “confidential information” had come to light over the use of a Cessna light aircraft which had flown out from the Longford based airstrip the previous day.

He said, on the day of the incident shortly before 5.30pm, gardaí observed Gilchrist Jnr remove several bags from the aircraft before placing them in a dark coloured vehicle.

Shortly after, gardaí stopped two vehicles, one driven by the accused and where five holdalls and a single suitcase were retrieved containing 120kg of cocaine worth an estimated €8.4m.

The court was told Gilchrist Jnr, in a series of interviews at Ashbourne Garda Station, stated he had been under duress from a number of unknown individuals not before the court. His sentence was backdated to when he went into custody almost two years ago.