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Taxi driver Niall Smith believed by gardaí to have run the operation bought the remote properties in a bid to avoid garda attention.
The gang, headed up by Kinahan cartel lieutenant Liam Byrne, had planned to use the properties in Co Leitrim after gardaí discovered their grow-house in Wexford.
Taxi driver Niall Smith believed by gardaí to have run the operation bought the remote properties in a bid to avoid garda attention.
Cab said that the properties in Leitrim, were where Smith had planned to move his grow-house operation to get away from garda attention in Wexford.
This belief was “fortified” by the discovery of equipment and materials at the Leitrim property associated with cannabis cultivation.
The property at Drumany was bought in 2011 for €15,000 but Cab estimated that €422,355 was spent on building a house on the site.
According to BRG Gibson Auctions who are handling the auction said the house with a reserve price of €125,000 is “located in a rural location facing Lough Nacarriga, approx. 9km from Ballinamore and its local amenities.”
“Although the property requires some internal repairs, it presents an excellent investment opportunity with significant potential to appeal to a wide range of buyers and investors.”
A second old house at Toomans, Co Leitrim had also been bought to be converted into a grow house on which Smith spent €86,000, according to Cab evidence.
“The remoteness of this location and the materials found when the property was searched support this conclusion.”
Now it is on the market and due for auction on 24 April with a reserve price of €25,000.
BRG Gibson Auctions described it as requiring full renovation but could appeal to a number of buyers willing to redevelop it.
Smith, who initially opposed the Cab case, had said he is a taxi driver who also does boat repairs and denied any involvement in crime and that his money came from undeclared earnings.
He said he was living off income from renting out a room in his Clondalkin home and was able to get by on €200 a week.
The Sunday World previously revealed how Smith had been exposed as the Byrne gang’s cannabis grower in Ireland after being forced to hand over property to Cab.
Originally from Crumlin, south Dublin, is said by Cab to have operated grow-houses throughout the country for more than ten years.
Smith was suspected of using the cover of his taxi business to transport the cannabis from remote rural areas back up to the Crumlin area for sale.
A sophisticated grow house at Courtown, Co Wexford, was discovered in 2013 where Smith was present at the time.
He later received a seven-year sentence, suspended for seven years.
The same year, 140 plants were found at an industrial unit in Swords along with Smith’s fingerprint, but no charges were brought.
At the time, it was believed there were plans to set up more grow-houses in Offaly, Westmeath, Longford, Roscommon and Leitrim.
One officer who investigated the Crumlin native described him in an affidavit as “very shrewd in his criminal enterprise”.
He used as few people as possible in the operation “with a view to reducing his exposure to law enforcement and remaining undetected”,
“These grow-houses appear to be large in scale and professionally and efficiently run.”
“}]] TWO houses linked to a cannabis farm operation directed by the Byrne organised crime gang are set to go for auction next week. Read More
