A major drug dealer who orchestrated a 20-strong gang of thugs to deliver his narcotics and who oversaw intimidation attacks to collect debt will be sentenced later this year.
The Special Criminal Court has heard how the gardai's investigation linked €500,000 worth of drugs to career criminal Barry Young.
Young also had seven bank accounts - including one in Madrid - and a bogus car recovery business to launder his dirty money.
Yet the 38-year-old father-of-two claimed €16,500 from the State in Pandemic Unemployed Payments.
Young has pleaded guilty to directing a criminal organisation.
At his sentencing hearing on Tuesday, it was heard that the Sligo native was a "significant" player in the northwest of the country.
A garda probe saw over half a million worth of drugs and €110,000 of cash being seized - with 16 arrests made so far.
The Special Criminal Court was told how over 22,000 messages - which included videos, voice notes and pictures - showed how Young directed his mob as well as his money laundering activity.
But the court also heard that he thanked gardai when he was arrested as he had contemplated taking his own life due to debts he had incurred to Dublin-based gangs.
Young - whose career in drugs has spanned back over 20 years - pushed product and money laundered on a local, national and international scale.
He controlled one of four gangs in Sligo and his group worked in a hierarchical structure, Detective Inspector Ray Mulderrig said.
This saw a chain of command in which he would direct to his some under him who were the top of a subcell and they then pass on his orders.
He was kept up to date about the transportation and delivery of his drugs. The gangster would also be kept abreast of the movement of cash, the lodging of money and the enforcement of debts.
Young was arrested in early January 2022 at Dublin Airport ahead of travelling to Spain, where he was to set up a new life.
It came over eight months after gardai set up an investigation team to directly target the mob. The investigation has seen 15 others arrested, with six before the courts while three others behind bars for organised gang and money laundering offences.
The court heard details of drug seizures in Ballina, Mayo and in Sligo linked to Young as well as an attack on a family home in Galway which had children inside.
The messages found on his phone included one saying "a gang of dubs and north would be going through his door", in relation to a debt intimidation attack.
However, Detective Inspector Mulderrig said violence was Young's least preferred option and would rather negotiate a repayment structure.
The court also heard that Young had seven accounts which he'd run money through. They included two AIB accounts, two credit union accounts, a Western Union and a Revolut account along with one in Madrid.
He also had one company in Sligo and another in Spain.
The one at home was BY Recovery, which was to recover, buy and sell cars.
But it was just a front, with no yard or storage located for the business. STY Global and Constructions SL was based in Alicante which offered house cleaning, swimming pool upkeep and the renovation of houses.
The balance of that business is currently frozen, the court heard. Young has 81 convictions, including two for the sale and supply of drugs, one of which led to a six year prison sentence.
In his defence, it was accepted that Young had always been "courteous and mannerly" with the gardai. He comes from a good working class family home.
His defence barrister said that he was under "enormous pressure himself" to pay debt. The court heard that he wanted to get out of it all and move to Spain.
The maximum sentence he could face is life imprisonment.
He will be sentenced on July 31.
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