By 
TWO Co Tyrone men who brought a ‘massive quantity of high quality cannabis’ into the North were jailed today.
Barry McMoran (50), from Doon Avenue in Dungannon, had a 12-year sentence imposed whilst 38-year old Thomas Dominic Taggart, from Sullenboy Park in Cookstown, was handed a sentence of six-and-a-half years.
The pair were sentenced at Dungannon Crown Court, sitting in Belfast, by Judge Richard Greene KC who divided both terms equally between prison and supervised licence.
Both men pleaded guilty to a charge of possessing a Class B drug with intent to supply on May 18, 2024.
The charge relates to a consignment of 204 kilograms of cannabis which was hidden in two concrete blocks and brought from England to the North in a trailer.
McMoran also admitted charges of being concerned in the supply of both cannabis and cocaine on dates between February 21 and May 18, 2024.
Ten days before their arrests in Coalisland on May 18, 2024 the pair travelled to England via ferry in two separate cars – Taggart in a Mitsubishi Shogun towing a trailer and McMoran in a BMW.
On May 11, McMoran received a message on his mobile from a person identified as ‘Big Doug’ cancelling whatever was arranged because of ‘an issue our end’.
McMoran replied and said ‘we have all set up and we our out here.’
Judge Greene said it could be inferred by the messages that what was being cancelled was the collection and transportation of the consignment of drugs and that McMoran was ‘somewhat annoyed at the cancellation and is letting Big Doug know this’.
The Shogun with the trailer was left in the car park of a Premier Inn in England, and McMoran and Taggart travelled back to Northern Ireland together on the Cairnryan ferry using different names.
McMoran and Big Doug re-arranged the transaction for May 17 and on May 16 McMoran and Taggart travelled together from Larne to Cairnryan in the BMW.
Also on May 16, Taggart sent a reply to a male who had messaged him about cannabis, telling this male ‘you can have as much you want when I get home’.
The transaction for the 204 kilograms of cannabis went ahead on the morning of May 17, 2024 and later that day police in Merseyside police saw the Shogun and trailer stopped at lay-by with two men present.
McMoran and Taggart returned to the North in the Shogun and BMW and in the early hours of May 18 they arrived at a remote shed in Coalisland.
The Shogun and trailer were reversed into the shed and at this point the PSNI intercepted and the pair were arrested at the scene.
The trailer was searched and after two concrete blocks were seized and broken, officers located cannabis which had been packed into plastic bags.
This, the court heard, had an estimated value of between £734,650 and just over £1m.
Both men were arrested and their phones were seized and examined. Messages on McMoran’s phone indicated he had been involved in supplying cocaine and cannabis over a period from February 2024 until his arrest in May.
Judge Greene said McMoran played a ‘leading role’ in the ‘criminal enterprise’ and that he and Taggart organised the purchase, collection and onward transportation of the cannabis.
The Judge also revealed that McMoran has a ‘relevant criminal record’ when he was caught attempting to import cannabis into Northern Ireland from Scotland.
His defence submitted that the loss of these drugs was the catalyst for his offending in May 2024 as he needed to pay off the debt created by the loss of that consignment.
Judge Greene said this previous conviction, the seizure of the 204 kilograms of drugs in Coalisland and the messages located on McMoran’s phone indicated he was ‘heavily involved in the trade of both Class A and B drugs at a very high level’.
Judge Greene said he was satisfied that the subsequent remorse McMoran has expressed is ‘wholly genuine’.
He also noted that whilst in HMP Magilligan, McMoran has engaged with services and is a mentor to others who have addiction and/or mental health issues.
Regarding Taggart, the Judge revealed he worked as a HGV driver and has eight previous offences on his criminal record.
Acknowledging he expressed remorse and victim awareness, Judge Greene also noted Taggart’s ‘problems’ with alcohol and drugs.
Imposing the sentences upon both men, Judge Greene said they were involved in ‘serious organised crime’ involving a ‘massive quantity of high quality cannabis’ being brought into the North.
In addition, McMoran and Taggart were both made the subject of a Serious Crime Prevention Order for a five-year period which will come into effect upon their releases from prison.
