Shawndell Gaston: first passport, 48 cannabis packets and four years
Shawndell Gaston had never left the United States. He obtained a passport three days before flying from New York to Dublin with his mother. Revenue found an intelligence-led consignment in their luggage; his share was reported as 48 packets of cannabis worth €424,000.
An intelligence-led airport seizure
On 6 July 2025, Revenue officers at Dublin Airport searched baggage belonging to two passengers who had arrived on a flight originating in the United States. Revenue’s public statement records 52kg of herbal cannabis with an estimated combined value of €1.04 million, concealed in vacuum-packed packages.
Gaston, a US national from the Bronx, and his mother Hellasha Tingman were arrested. The final court report attributed 48 packets worth €424,000 to Gaston. It is important not to attribute his mother’s alleged or later adjudicated share to him: this file follows the quantity and value stated at his own sentence.
What Gaston told Gardaí
Gaston said he had accommodation booked in Dundalk and initially maintained that he did not know what was inside the suitcases. The court heard that he and his mother were in financial difficulty. His defence said both had strong drug addictions and that his mother, unable to meet rent, had been offered a job to take the luggage abroad.
Gaston worked in security, had never previously left the United States and had obtained his passport only three days before travelling. He later described the decision as grotesquely stupid and accepted that what he did was wrong.
Guilty plea and sentence
Gaston pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to importing cannabis at Dublin Airport. He had no previous convictions. Judge Martin Nolan placed his culpability at the lowest level but held that the scale of the import required custody, imposing four years.
The contemporaneous report does not establish an immigration, asylum or deportation history. He was a short-term arrival apprehended at the border, not a resident whose status can safely be inferred.
Chronology
- 3 July 2025: approximately three days before travel, Gaston obtains his first passport.
- 6 July 2025: arrives from JFK; Revenue conducts the intelligence-led seizure and Gardaí arrest him.
- 7 July 2025: he appears in the District Court and is remanded.
- 26 February 2026: the Circuit Court imposes four years after his guilty plea.
Public-cost benchmark
Four nominal years at the Irish Prison Service’s 2024 average of €99,072 per available staffed prison space gives a gross benchmark of €396,288. It is not Gaston’s invoice, marginal cost or proof of the time ultimately served. It excludes Revenue, Garda, court, legal-aid and disposal costs.
Sources
- The Irish Times, 26 February 2026 — plea, personal circumstances and sentence.
- Revenue, 7 July 2025 — official combined seizure record.
- Irish Independent, 7 July 2025 — first court appearance.
- Irish Statute Book, Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 — statutory context.
- Irish Prison Service Annual Report 2024 — cost benchmark.
Record checked: 31 July 2026. No published conviction appeal was located.