Dublin drugs baron gets 9 years from Dutch court
A court in Amsterdam has sentenced a Dublin drugs baron to nine years in prison.
49-year-old John Cunningham is being jailed for taking part in a massive weapons and drugs smuggling racket between Holland and Ireland.
Dutch police and Gardai believe Cunningham was one of the main Irish drugs dealers operating out of Amsterdam.
Cunningham was arrested near the city's Schipol Airport last March and charged in connection with an IR£8m drugs and arms seizure.
He had been under surveillance for several months, by both Irish and Dutch authorities.
He fled to Amsterdam in 1996 after escaping from Shelton Abbey open prison, in Co Wicklow, where he was serving 17 years for the 1986 kidnapping of Jennifer Guinness.
Gardai are now seeking Cunningham’s extradition to Ireland to serve the remainder of that sentence and face other new charges.
