A Kerry businessman has been jailed for 12 years for his role in the importation of over €32 million worth of crystal meth into Ireland.

Nathan McDonnell of Ballyroe in Tralee was found to also have been centrally involved in plans to transport the drug-filled machine to Australia.

Aside from the type and quantity of drugs involved, the judges felt the involvement of a Mexican cartel was a significant aggravating factor in the case.

Mr McDonnell insisted he didn’t know the drugs were hidden inside a machine he agreed to store at his family’s garden centre, but the judges said he could have joined the dots.

The court also heard the father-of-three suffered a broken jaw over the weekend after being violently assaulted in prison.

Irish Garda police lamp sign. Image: Alamy