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A man who was the only person present when gardaí raided a cannabis grow house in Co. Louth has been jailed for three years.
Mantas Vidutis (34), with an address at the time at Main Street, Castlebellingham, pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis with a value of €13,000 or more for sale or supply at that location on May 20, 2024.
A sentence hearing at Dundalk Circuit Court heard that between harvested material and cannabis plants the drugs were worth €670,000.
The Lithuanian national, who had the assistance of an interpreter, has no previous convictions.
He was in an upstairs living area when gardaí executed a search warrant.
They found 123 cannabis plants worth €98,000 in a sophisticated cultivation unit in three different rooms, along with 28.6kg of harvested cannabis herb valued €572,000, bringing the total value of the drugs seized to €670,000.
Mr Vidutis claimed that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and didn’t accept that he tended to the plants.
Defence counsel submitted that he had been working as a scaffolder until suffering an accident and had been exploited in terms of this physical disability at the time. There was an element of fear involved.
A probation report indicated a lack of remorse for the offending. He minimised the impact of cannabis and believed it’s only a matter of time before it is legalised.
Judge Dara Hayes said the defendant was effectively at the lowest rung, what is described as a “gardener”.
Aggravating factors included the significant quantity of drugs and the sophisticated nature of the grow house.
A three-year sentence was imposed, backdated to October 24, 2025, to allow for 347 days on remand before Mr Vidutis took up bail.
Funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme
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