Dublin (Somalia Today) — An Irish judge has jailed a Somali national who worked in diplomatic services after prosecutors said he used Somali diplomatic passports to help several women enter Ireland through Dublin Airport, in what the court described as a profit-driven operation that abused diplomatic travel privileges, The Irish Times reported.
Abdallatif Mohamed, 40, also known as Hussein, pleaded guilty to four counts of assisting unlawful entry into the State under Section 6 of Ireland’s Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Act 2021. He has no previous convictions.
Prosecutors said the offending unfolded over a three-month period in 2024 and followed a repeating method: Mohamed travelled on a Somali diplomatic passport, while women associated with him arrived without documents and then sought international protection.
Judge Dara Hayes said the misuse of diplomatic passports aggravated the case, stressing their protected status exists “for good reason”.
“They have a particular status… to protect diplomatic staff as they go about the world on their duties,” he said, “not to assist with criminality.”
Airport arrivals
The prosecution’s case focused on flights from Abu Dhabi into Dublin, including an arrival on November 26, 2024.
On that trip, Mohamed travelled with two women who presented as his wife and daughter, prosecutors said. All three obtained Somali diplomatic passports, but gardaí flagged that the women did not match the photographs on their passports.
Investigators later challenged Mohamed at the offices of the Garda National Immigration Bureau, where he tried to conceal the women’s genuine passports in his clothing, the court heard.
Gardaí also found two phones and $13,910 in cash on him, along with smaller sums in other denominations. The women confirmed the passports recovered from Mohamed were their own genuine passports.
Both women told investigators they paid him to bring them to Ireland. One said she paid $14,000, while the other said she paid $15,000.
Mohamed later admitted to two similar incidents on September 30 and November 6, 2024, which gardaí verified using CCTV footage.
In those incidents, prosecutors said Mohamed arrived from Abu Dhabi with a woman but left the aircraft alone and passed through immigration by himself. He presented a Somali diplomatic passport and told officers he planned a short holiday.
The woman then presented without travel documents and sought international protection, while Mohamed carried her documents, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said Mohamed carried the woman’s travel documents as she approached officials. The court heard he used the same basic method across the incidents.
‘Privilege abused’
Judge Hayes described the offending as an “operation for profit” in which Mohamed was “centrally involved”. He said the court had no direct evidence showing the profit was for Mohamed’s personal use.
The judge also noted there was no suggestion of force or coercion against the women, and no evidence of trafficking for forced labour, which would have significantly aggravated the case.
The defence argued that Mohamed acted under pressure and claimed family members had been kidnapped. Judge Hayes said there was no evidence to support that account.
He said the cash found on Mohamed undermined the explanation.
“It seems curious that these people would allow him to travel with what could only have been a significant portion of profit,” the judge said, adding there was no explanation for why Mohamed carried almost $14,000 in cash.
Judge Hayes imposed a five-year sentence and suspended the final six months on strict conditions, leaving an effective term of four-and-a-half years. The court backdated the sentence to the date Mohamed entered custody.
