Man jailed after €294k worth of cannabis found in lost luggage

Eimear Dodd

A man who went back to the airport to collect lost luggage containing €294,000 of cannabis has been jailed for two years and four months.

Alfonso Turano (41) arrived in Ireland the day before the suitcase, which contained 14.7kg of cannabis. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard he completed a lost luggage form with his real name and went back the next day to collect it.

Turano, with an address in Calabro, Italy, pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis for sale or supply on March 1st, 2025, at Dublin Airport.

On Wednesday, Judge Ronan Munro handed Turano a four-year sentence, with the final 20 months suspended for 10 years on strict conditions.

The judge said the court accepted Turano was “not a criminal mastermind” but was also satisfied that he would have known the suitcase contained something criminal.

Garda Peter Mullins told Joe Mulrean BL prosecuting, a customs officer was approached by an Aer Lingus employee about an unaccompanied suitcase which had arrived from London and had not yet been collected.

The bag had originally travelled from Barcelona and had Turano's name on it. Boarding passes showed he had travelled from Barcelona to Dublin via London the day before.

Turano had returned to the airport to collect the suitcase and was escorted airside, where the bag was searched after an anomaly was detected. He said the bag was his and that he packed it himself.

When the bag was searched, two vacuum packed bags of cannabis were found.

Turano said he was visiting friends in Dublin for a short holiday. He later said he did not know what was in the bag and that a man had approached him at Barcelona airport, offering him €1,000 to bring the suitcase to Ireland.

He said when the suitcase did not arrive, he paid cash to stay overnight at a hotel near the airport, and filled in the lost luggage form.

Responding to a query from Judge Ronan Munro, Gda Mullins said it is “not unusual” for people to be approached at an airport and be asked to carry a suitcase, in exchange for a financial reward.

He noted there is a “level of ignorance” where a person chooses not to look in the bag.

Gda Mullins agreed with Michael Bowman SC, defending that it was “extraordinarily naive” of Turano to give his real name and details when filling in the lost luggage form.

Gda Mullins accepted the suggestion that Turano “walked effectively into the arms” of customs officers when he returned to collect the suitcase.

Turano told gardaí his small business in Italy was not doing very well and he was working on starting another business in Spain. He was also concerned about being able to pay maintenance for his teenage child.

The court heard that Turano was fully co-operative with gardaí, answered all questions and entered an early guilty plea.

He has no previous convictions and has been in custody since his arrest.

The garda agreed with Mr Bowman that his client told gardaí he made the “biggest mistake of his life” and was not a drug dealer.

It was further accepted that Turano replied: “mamma mia” when told what was in the bag.

Mr Bowman noted this was a “particularly Italian” response, with the witness agreeing that Turano presented as a genuine, decent man who made a “catastrophic mistake”.

Counsel submitted to the court that his client's moral culpability is at the lower end, and that his actions involved a level of naivety.

He noted his client was doing it for reward, but did not receive payment. Several character references were provided to the court.

Mr Bowman said his client has had no visitors since entering custody as his family do not have the means to travel here.

Counsel said Turano has limited English and is working while in custody.

Taking the stand, Turano said: “I beg pardon for what I have done”, adding that he misses his family. He was assisted to give his evidence and to follow proceedings by an Italian interpreter.

Judge Munro said aggravating features were the value of the drugs and that Turano was due to receive payment.

He set a headline sentence of six years, which he reduced to four years, taking the mitigation, Turano's personal circumstances and the difficulties for foreign nationals serving a prison sentence into consideration.

The judge backdated the sentence to March 1, 2025, when Turano went into custody.