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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.
Some 60 tourism companies from Ireland attended ‘Flavours of Ireland’ 2022 in London last week – including Connemara Wild Escapes, DK Connemara Oysters and Killary Fjord Boat Tours.
‘Flavours’ is Tourism Ireland’s annual B2B tourism workshop, where tourism companies from Ireland meet and do business with top global inbound tour operators.
Now in its 20th year, ‘Flavours’ took place in the Guildhall, in the City of London, and was attended by around 100 global inbound tour operators who deliver business from all over the world, including the United States, Mainland Europe, Asia, Australasia and Africa.
‘Flavours’ provides an excellent opportunity for the participating tourism providers from Galway and Ireland to highlight and sell their tourism product and build valuable relationships with the key decision-makers in attendance.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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From the Galway City Tribune – The Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR) has asked Galway City Council to roll back material alterations to the new City Development Plan proposed by councillors.
In July, elected members voted through a raft of changes to zonings in the Draft City Development Plan 2023-29, which went out on public display.
But the Planning Regulator has now warned City Hall that many of the proposed changes do not comply with the OPR’s recommendations, and are contrary to national planning guidelines.
The OPR specifically highlighted problems with proposals to rezone as residential land deemed at risk of flooding.
Anne Marie O’Connor, Deputy Regulator, wrote to the Council’s Planning Department outlining the OPR’s fresh advice on the changes to the draft plan proposed and approved by councillors.
The draft plan will come before elected members again this month.
Councillors will be asked to row back on some of their previous material alterations, which ran contrary to advice of the OPR.
Ms O’Connor said the OPR welcomed many of the changes made by the City Council in its draft plan. She said, however, that the OPR “has a number of outstanding concerns relating to the response of the planning authority to its recommendations and to a number of proposed material alterations relating to the zoning of lands”.
These relate to changes that conflict with national and regional objectives for compact growth; with legislative requirements regarding climate action and core strategies; and with rezoning land at risk of flooding.
The OPR highlighted a dozen or more material alterations by councillors that are “not consistent” with the National Planning Framework for compact growth.
These include re-zoning of land from agricultural or recreational and amenity to residential.
The changes voted on by councillors, the OPR noted, were done against the advice of the Council’s Chief Executive Brendan McGrath.
The OPR said the changes proposed by councillors represented a “piecemeal approach” to zoning and were “inconsistent” with national policy.
These comments related to proposed rezoning of land at Rahoon; Dublin Road; Quarry Road, Menlo; Ballindooley; off Circular Road; Menlo village; Roscam and Barna Woods.
The OPR also raised “significant concerns” over five material alterations proposed for residential zonings of land at Western Distributor Road; Terryland; Menlo Village; Headford Road and Barna Woods which are located within flood zones.
The approach by councillors “may place people and property at unnecessary risk from future flood events”, the OPR warned.
Ms O’Connor told planners that if the draft plan ignores the OPR advice or is at odds with its recommendations, the Council Chief Executive must inform the OPR in writing the reasons for doing so.
Save Roscam Peninsula in a 33-page submission to the draft plan echoed many of the concerns outlined by the OPR.
The Council has pencilled in four dates in November and December to approve the plan.
It will meet on November 21, 24 and 28 and December 1 when material alterations will be voted on individually.
This article first appeared in the print edition of the Galway City Tribune, November 4. You can support our journalism by subscribing to the Galway City Tribune HERE. The print edition is in shops every Friday.
JOHN HARNEY from Mountpleasant first joined the Ballinasloe Horse and Agriculture Show Committee, all of 60-years ago, on April 24, 1962. Both John and the show are still going strong as they celebrate their 183rd event on this Sunday. Here, he looks back on his involvement with this iconic show through the years.
THE Ballinasloe Show back in the early 1960s was going well with both the Showgrounds and Duggan Park both used for running the competitions.
My first introduction to the show was stewarding the pony competitions in the Mountpleasant end of the Duggan Park with the rest of the GAA field being used for trade stands.
At that time, it was a very big show with horses, ponies, cattle and sheep, pigs and fowl – also there was a big garden and farm produce section as well as a home craft and baking section with flowers and plants supported by a very large women’s committee.
At that time, showjumping took place in the afternoon with the top riders in the country taking part. I was elected Chairman at the AGM in 1975, a position I held for ten years.
During that time, the Duggan Park Committee approached the Show Committee for a piece of the showgrounds behind the GAA Stand for dressing rooms.
This was brought up a number of times at our committee meetings, and at first, the view was that the Duggan Park Committee would buy the ground.
However, after much deliberation it was decided by the Show Committee to ‘give the ground’ for the sum of £1 with the proviso that the dressingrooms could be used on show days by the local ICA to do catering for the event.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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