Failed drug-driving test led Gardai to €104,000 cocaine stash

A Letterkenny man was found in possession of just over €104,000 worth of cocaine after failing a drug-driving test at a checkpoint.

Gardai located 1,488.3 grams of cocaine, worth €104,181, concealed in a clothes bag in a Vauxhall Combo van being driven by Mark McMonagle.

The 26-year-old McMonagle, with an address at Sylvan Park, Gortlee, Letterkenny, has pleaded guilty to the possession of a controlled drug, namely cocaine, for the purpose of selling or otherwise supplying it.

McMonagle will be sentenced on Wednesday at Letterkenny Circuit Court by Judge John Aylmer.

The facts of the case were outlined by Garda Eimear Hassett, who told Ms Patricia McLaughlin BL, counsel for the State, that she was on duty at an MIT (mandatory intoxicant testing) checkpoint at Drumbuoy, Lifford on January 8, 2021.

At 2.57pm, Garda Stephen Campbell stopped a vehicle and spoke to the driver, Mark McMonagle, who failed a roadside test for the presence of cocaine.

McMonagle was arrested and taken to Letterkenny Garda Station, where a small bag of cocaine was located in his wallet during the course of a search. McMonagle appeared ‘nervous and agitated’ and he was informed that the vehicle would be searched.

Three large bags, which McMonagle confirmed were his, were recovered from the rear of the van. Inside one of the bags, Garda Hassett located a plastic SuperValu which contained six individually wrapped packages of a white substance.

Garda Eimear Hassett at Letterkenny courthouse. (Joe Boland, North West Newspix)

Initially, McMonagle denied any knowledge of the contents when questioned.

Later, McMonagle told Gardai: “You think those were mine? Those drugs aren’t mine and were not for me. I don’t know the weight, quantity or value. It is quite clear what is happening here.”

McMonagle admitted that he was transporting the drugs from Dublin to Donegal for someone else and admitted to knowing that it was cocaine. McMonagle would not disclose who he was couriering the drugs for, declining to identify anyone ‘for his own safety’.

References to an envelope with €200 in it were found on McMonagle’s iPhone, but he refused to comment on this during an interview with Gardai.

Garda Hassett said it was her belief that McMonagle was couriering the drugs for a financial reward. The accused has no previous convictions.

Asked by Mr Colm Smyth SC, barrister for McMonagle, about a death threat sent to McMonagle in the post, Garda Hassett said she believed that a letter was sent to a family member.

Put in the witness box by his barrister, McMonagle told the court that he felt ‘terrible’ that he drew some work colleagues into the situation.

Mr Colm Smyth SC, barrister for Mark McMonagle. (Joe Boland, North West Newspix)

McMonagle said he was introduced to cocaine at a young age and became addicted. “I got involved with the wrong crowd,” he said. McMonagle said the ‘run down the road’ with the cocaine stash was carried out in order to clear a debt.

The court heard that the accused received a letter from what was described as a ‘vigilante group’ and he is in fear ‘every day’.

He said he had also been threatened by the people who had given him the drugs. A repayment to the value of the drugs was needed, he said.

McMonagle has been abstinent from drugs since 2021 and has engaged with the Donegal Youth Service and the HSE’s counseling and drugs service. A probation report said McMonagle was motivated to address his substance abuse.

McMonagle is now a father to two young children and said he was interested in volunteering with the Donegal Youth Service to speak to young people about his experience.s

TV personality and hotelier Noel Cunningham, a former Donegal Person of the Year who the court heard was a ‘very close family friend’, submitted a reference on behalf of McMonagle.

Mr Cunningham described McMonagle as ‘a very fine young man who made one terrible mistake’.

Ms Gabrielle McMonagle, the mother of the defendant, said her son is now drug free and is working full time to provide for his family. In a reference, which was mentioned in court by Mr Smyth, Ms McMonagle said she was ‘totally shocked’ with the incident and said her son was now drug free and has ‘learned a tough lesson’.

A now-retired Garda Walsh also tendered a reference on behalf of the accused. He said it was a ‘joy to behold’ how McMonagle has faced up to the charge and changed his life.

McMonagle’s new employer, who was aware of the charge when giving him a job in 2021, said he was an ‘invaluable’ member of the workforce and said the actions were ‘completely out of character’.

McMonagle said he wanted to apologise for what he said were ‘despicable actions taken under pressure’. He said that with his two children facing the prospect of growing up without a father for a while that he wished he could turn back time.

Mr Smyth asked the court to be as lenient as possible. “He has showed a firm purpose to continue on this path,” Mr Smyth said. “It is very likely that he will not veer off that path.

Judge Aylmer said he would take time to consider the case and the matter was adjourned until Wednesday, May 17.