The drugs mule who gambled and lost in a bid to clear £2,500 Ibiza debt

A drug mule gambled and lost as he tried to clear a debt.

Dean Scanlon, 23, was caught at Manchester Airport with cannabis worth at least £160,000 stuffed into two suitcases. He had been offered the job as part of a chance to clear a £2,500 debt he had accrued during a spell in Ibiza, Manchester Crown Court heard.

In return for the debt being cleared, Scanlon was told he had to try and smuggle the class B drugs into the UK on his return from Thailand. But the plot was soon rumbled and Scanlon, originally from Dublin, is now in jail.

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Prosecuting, Justin Hayhoe told how Scanlon arrived at Manchester Airport on July 19 after taking a flight from Bangkok. He was challenged about the two suitcases he had with him as he left through the ‘nothing to declare’ channel.

Scanlon told Border Force officers that he’d packed the bags himself, and was aware of their contents. But on further examination the suitcases were found to contain 41.4 kilos of cannabis, said to be worth £162,000 at a wholesale level.

Scanlon, of no fixed address, was held and charged with one count of being concerned in the fraudulent evasion of a prohibition on the importation of a class B drug. He later pleaded guilty to the offence.

Defending, Rebecca Caulfield said that Scanlon was a cannabis user himself, who ‘dabbled’ in using cocaine. She said he left for Spain, where he continued to use drugs.

But he built up a £2,500 debt while in Ibiza and was told it would be cleared if he went to Thailand and tried to smuggle the drugs back into the UK. Ms Caulfield said Scanlon, an Irishman, had suffered ‘trauma’ as a child and described him as being ‘extremely immature for his age’.

Judge Tom Gilbart told Scanlon that he had taken a ‘gamble’. The judge said: “Today you are required to meet the consequences of the choices that you made.” He jailed Scanlon for 15 months. Scanlon was told he could face deportation back to Ireland after serving his sentence.