Court jails pair after €1.4m of cocaine discovered in furniture van

By Sonya McLean and Claire Henry

Two men who were caught with just over €1.4 million worth of cocaine, which was hidden in a hydraulic press in a van transporting furniture, have both been jailed for 10 years.

Vaidas Venckunas (54) of no fixed abode pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to having drugs for sale or supply and having the proceeds of crime, €1,855, at Carlton Hotel, Tyrrelstown, Co Dublin, on February 20th, 2025.

Darius Cepulis (50) of Kilcogy, Cavan, was convicted following a trial last February in relation to having the drugs for sale or supply on the same date.

Detective Garda Peter Morris told George Burns, prosecuting, that gardaí set up a surveillance operation following a tip-off.

A Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van was identified as a vehicle of interest and followed by gardaí after travelling by ferry from Cherbourg, France, to Rosslare, Co Wexford.

The vehicle was kept under observation until it parked up at a hotel in Tyrrelstown around 4pm that afternoon.

Gardaí saw Cepulis get out of the van and go into the hotel until he returned with Venckunas, and the packages were transferred from the van into another vehicle. Gardaí moved in and arrested both men and seized both vehicles.

The Sprinter van was found to contain mostly furniture but also had a hydraulic press and had been freshly painted.

Gardaí suspected drugs would be concealed within the vehicle and later found the drugs, 20kg of cocaine, hidden in the hydraulic press.

A search of the hotel room revealed vacuum-packed cash and three mobile phones, including what was described as “an encrypted phone”.

The drugs were analysed and found to be worth an estimated €1.4 million. Venckunas’s fingerprints were found on the cash.

Cepulis told gardaí he had been delivering furniture to Ireland. He said he was surprised there were drugs in the van.

Venckunas told gardaí he was to receive €8,000 for delivering the items in the van. He said he had planned to use the cash found in the room to buy a car. He had vacuum-packed it as he had been robbed before, and he did not want to be robbed again.

He later admitted the encrypted phone had been given to him by “a man in Armagh”. He claimed he was afraid he would be killed if he assisted any further. He said his wife had breast cancer and he felt he had no choice but to get involved.

Det Gda Morris agreed with James Dwyer, defending Cepulis, that his client did not have any encrypted phones.

He had been working in the delivery business since 2012 and had begun freelancing in that area, travelling to many countries.

It was accepted that Venckunas paid for the ferry trip and his hotel room and that there were “legitimate items” in the van.

Det Gda Morris agreed with Michael Bowman, defending Venckunas, that he was in fear that if he assisted gardaí in their investigation, he would be killed.

Dwyer acknowledged that his client had contested the trial and accepted that the “obvious mitigation” of a guilty plea was not available to him.

He said his client’s defence had been that he had no knowledge of what was in the van.

Dwyer accepted that his client had been convicted but he submitted that he was “clearly a courier placed on the frontline taking risks on behalf of others who profited from it”.

He asked the court to accept that his client had no previous convictions and “no other blemishes on his record”.

Bowman asked the court to accept his client’s pleas of guilty and the fact that he accepted his role in the operation.

He handed in a letter from Venckunas “setting out he is sorry for what happened and acknowledging he put himself in it”.

Counsel asked the court to accept that his client needed money for his wife’s treatment.

“He wants to be a better version of himself and take responsibility for his role. He feels this has been an important lesson for him,” Bowman submitted before he handed in medical records in relation to his wife's diagnosis.

“It is his priority to return home to care for his wife as quickly as he can and as best as he can,” Bowman said.

Passing sentence today/yesterday (Friday), Judge Martina Baxter said the aggravating factors in this case for both men were the pre-planning involved and that this was a multi-jurisdiction operation.

She also highlighted the scourge drugs have on individuals, both nationally and internationally.

The judge considered the following mitigation factors for Venckunas: his guilty plea, his lack of any previous convictions and addiction issues, his personal circumstances and that serving a prison sentence in a foreign country will be difficult for him.

Judge Baxter sentenced Venckunas to 10 years in prison for possession of drugs for sale or supply and five years in prison for money laundering; both sentences are to run concurrently. The judge backdated to the date he went into custody.

With regards to Cepulis, the judge noted that he was entitled to test the evidence at trial.

She considered the following as mitigating factors: his lack of previous convictions, his lack of addiction issues, and his cooperation with the gardaí in providing PIN numbers for his phone. She also took into consideration that he has been in custody in a foreign country since he was charged.

Judge Baxter sentenced Cepulis to 10 years in prison and backdated to when he went into custody.