Man jailed for having €90,000 of cocaine and cannabis for sale or supply in County Kilkenny

Having more than €90,000 of illegal drugs hidden in a rucksack in his bedroom has seen one man convicted of having drugs for sale and supply.

Rafal Brauner, 35 Shortcourse, Waterford, has begun a two year prison sentence, following his conviction at Kilkenny Circuit Court.
Mr Brauner was also convicted of having benzocaine, described as a ‘mixing agent’ for the cocaine.

Evidence was heard in court from Garda Brian Carthy that gardaí were granted a search warrant for a home in Ferrybank, Waterford, following information from Waterford Gardaí.

On August 26, 2022, gardaí searched the home in Abbeygate, Ferrybank. On entering the premises they met four people, one of whom was Mr Brauner.
When it was explained to Mr Brauner that the gardaí had a search warrant under the Misuse of Drugs Act he immediately stated that there was drugs on the premises.

Mr Brauner took a pink backpack from a wardrobe in his bedroom and it was handed over to gardaí.
The bag contained cannabis, cocaine and a ‘crystalised substance’ that was the benzocaine.

Forensic examination
On examination by Forensic Science Ireland it was reported the bag contained 1076.9g of cocaine, valued at €75,355, 727.8g of cannabis, valued at €14,450, and 112g of benzocaine, which had no value in itself but it is used in the production, ‘cutting and bulking’ of cocaine, the court was told.

Mr Brauner was arrested and taken to a garda station where he made full admissions. He said none of the other people in the house had any knowledge of the drugs.
Mr Brauner told gardaí that he had accrued a substantial drugs debt and had been offered €2,000 towards that to hold the drugs, by another person.
He was afraid to name that person in interview.

The garda said Mr Brauner had never come to garda attention before and was in full time employment and therefore had been trusted to hold the drugs.

At the time Mr Brauner was paying a car loan, which gardaí confirmed, and had no ‘trappings of wealth’.
Defence barrister, Michelle Smith, said Mr Brauner had been living with his mother, sister and brother at the time. His family are very upset by what happened.

Her client was earning €470 a week, at the time, and had a lot of bills. He was struggling financially.
Mr Brauner, now 27, was training to be a mechanical fitter. He had just 12 weeks left to being fully qualified when he was arrested and his employer let him go.

Mr Brauner was a young man with a very bright future, Ms Smith said. That was put in jeopardy by agreeing to hold the drugs.
Two and a half years before his arrest, Mr Brauner had started using drugs recreationally.
This became more frequent until he was using every second or third day and built up a debt.
Her client had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity and had never been in court before.

Mr Brauner had been a good worker, Ms Smith said, handing in a number of references to the court from previous employers who said they would employ him again.
Mr Brauner had written his own letter expressing sincere remorse. He has now realised his actions supported criminal activity at a higher scale, the barrister said.

He had been an honest, decent, hard-working young man and in some respects it was ‘baffling’ why he was before the court, Ms Smith said.
But Mr Brauner had told them why - that his recreational drug use got out of control, he accrued a debt and was easy prey for a drug gang.

Mr Brauner is still at an age where he has very good prospects, Ms Smith said, he is young and has ability.
He has been proactive in terms of his rehabilitation and has engaged with community drug counselling.

Judge Cormac Quinn said he was satisfied there was ‘an element of fear’ behind Mr Brauner’s actions.
Aggravating factors in the case were the seriousness of the offence, the amount of drugs and the harm to society from drugs, the judge said.

Plea
Mitigating factors included Mr Brauner’s young age, his early guilty plea, his co-operation with gardaí and not coming to their attention otherwise.
The judge also considered that Mr Brauner was addicted at the time of the offence and a Probation Report conclusion that he is managing his recovery well.

Convicting Mr Brauner, the judge imposed a jail sentence of three years on the charge of being in possession of illegal drugs for sale or supply, with the last 12 months suspended for 12 months.
On the charge of having benzocaine a concurrent 18 months imprisonment was imposed.
A destruction order was issued for the seized drugs.