US College basketball player jailed after Dublin Airport drugs haul

Sonya McLean

A Division One college basketball player from Nevada has been jailed for three years and six months after he brought just over €381,000 worth of cannabis into Ireland to help out a friend.

Kristaps Kambala (22) of Lovelady Court, Henderson, Nevada pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to having the drugs for sale or supply at Dublin Airport on June 23rd 2025.

Aideen Collard BL, prosecuting, told the court that Kambala was stopped in Dublin Airport having travelled from Bangkok.

She said Kambala was “deemed to be acting suspiciously” and his luggage was put through an x-ray machine. The luggage was locked, and the lock had to be cut open with bolt cutters after Kambala said he did not have a key.

This led to the discovery of 38 vacuum-sealed bags. They were later analysed and found to contain 19 kilograms of cannabis, worth an estimated €381,000.

Kambala accepted it was his luggage but he said someone else had packed it. He was due to meet someone at the airport to hand over the drugs.

It was accepted that he appeared quite naïve about his involvement. He has no previous convictions in any jurisdiction.

Mark Lynam SC, defending, said his client is one of the top college athletes in the US and he had secured a college scholarship.

Kambala is a Division One basketball player, in the top one per cent in the country.

Counsel said Kambala is also academically gifted, and it was submitted that he “had his pick of whatever college he wanted” in the States.

“It seems to be clear that he was easily swayed by someone else,” Mr Lynam said adding that Kambala said he had been on holiday in Thailand with someone whom he considered to be like a brother to him – someone he had grown up with. This man convinced him to carry the cannabis.

Kambala told gardaí that he had no idea of the weight of the drugs and the consequences of carrying it.

Lynam said so many people wanted to submit character references on behalf of Kambala. He handed up the references but told Judge Orla Crowe removed 20 of them as there was too many for the court to consider. A probation report and a governor’s report were also handed into court.

Counsel said his client was born in Spain. His father is originally from Latvia, and he was a 7 foot tall professional basketball player, which led to the family travelling a lot.

Lynam said, although his client is not as tall - he is six foot- he still reached the top of the sport “through his tenacity, determination and skill”. Counsel said Kambala’s mother, who was in court to support him, is “the driving force behind him”.

Lynam said that due to his client being sheltered by both his academic and sporting background – he was easily duped into getting involved in this offence.

“He has lost everything he has tried to achieve,” Mr Lynam submitted to the court “He will have to start from scratch but he does have the support and he will have the capacity to rebuild his life.”

Counsel said his client was very lucky he was not caught with the drugs in Thailand. He said he naively believed that if he was caught in Ireland, he would effectively get “a slap on the wrist”.

Lynam said his client did not profit from his role in the offence. “He did not need to do this – he was just doing it to help someone out,” he told the court.

Imposing a sentence on Friday, Judge Crowe noted that Kambala was carrying a “considerable” amount of the drug and the suitcase would have been heavy.

She said Kambala knew he was bringing cannabis into this jurisdiction and “the fact that he had no idea of the consequences was a matter for himself”.

The judge said the value of the drugs was an aggravating factor. She noted that Kambala's guilty plea, the contents of the references and the fact he has lost his sports scholarship as mitigating features.

She imposed a sentence of three and a half years, backdated to when Kambala went into custody.