A PILOT who flew €8.4million worth of cocaine into Ireland has been jailed for 11 years. Tim Gilchrist — a “Walter Mitty-type” character — was arrested after cops kept tabs on a ­single-engine plane he piloted from Dieppe, France, to Longford in August 2022. Judge Keenan Johnson voiced concerns about “open corridor” ­airfields around the country and urged “significant upgrading” of security and 24-hour monitoring and checks. Det Sgt Ciaran Cummins agreed with the judge that the procedures in Abbeyshrule effectively made it a “complete open corridor”. Gilchrist claimed he was helping the plane’s pilot build up flying hours and the court heard there had been six known flights.

Source: The Star July 05, 2024 09:50 UTC