Dublin Circuit Criminal Court has sentenced 52-year-old Andrew Pender to 15 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and money laundering. Gardaí described Pender as operating at the highest tier of a Dublin narcotics network. Pender was arrested on 19 July 2024 when officers stopped his car on the Finglas Road and found cocaine and €9,000 in cash. Follow-up searches uncovered a further €8.9 million worth of cocaine, cannabis, ketamine and MDMA, along with more than €1.1 million in cash, hidden in a shipping container and a box van on rented land in County Dublin. Investigators also seized a stolen Garda uniform, two vehicles fitted with hydraulic and electronic secret compartments, and records of shell companies set up to mask the movement of drugs and money. Judge Orla Crowe called the operation “highly sophisticated” and said no one stood higher in the network, adding that the full sentence was necessary given the scale of the offending and its impact on communities.