DUBLIN: The leader of a major drugs gang has been jailed for smuggling millions of pounds worth of cocaine and cannabis into Northern Ireland.
Declan Gallagher was the mastermind behind the operation but eleven other members of his gang were also sentenced on Thursday. A prison van brought most of the drug gang to court to be sentenced – and there were so many they couldn’t all fit in the dock.
The eleven men and one woman come from the Derry, Belfast and Greater Manchester areas. The leader is Declan Gallagher – the 34-year-old is originally from Derry.
Eight years ago, dissident republican vigilantes repeatedly tried to kill him and he was shot, his home in Donegal pipe-bombed and set on fire. Gallagher fled to Manchester but couldn’t evade the law.
He was arrested following six drug seizures made across Northern Ireland between September 2013 and October 2014.
Over £2m worth of cocaine and cannabis was discovered.
