15 due in court after police target heroin trade

Fifteen people were today appearing in court following the biggest police crackdown on the heroin trade in Northern Ireland.

More than 200 police officers were involved in mass swoops targeting dealers in Ballymena, Co Antrim, as well as South Belfast.

Two men and two women were due at Belfast Magistrates Court, police said.

Another four men were scheduled to be brought to Ballymena Special Court, while seven people were set to appear before a magistrate in Larne, Co Antrim.

The carefully-planned raids, codenamed Operation Galiot, were the culmination of months of planning, intelligence gathering and undercover operations during which officers infiltrated the drugs scene posing as heroin buyers.

Chief Supt Judith Gillespie, head of the Drugs Squad, said: ‘‘We hope to make a significant dent in the supply chain.’’

Suspected key suppliers were among those targeted in a series of coordinated raids on homes which began at dawn yesterday and went on for some eight hours.

Teams of officers in unmarked cars converged on houses and smashed their way through front doors to seize targets.

The Police Service said the aim of the operation was to arrest and charge key individuals involved in the heroin trade.

A list of key people had been drawn up, but on the day more people were arrested than the Drugs Squad had anticipated.

The Drugs Squad chief said heroin dealing was their ‘‘number one priority at the moment’’.

Ballymena is the centre of the trade with a reputed 1,000 addicts and others travelling to the town from across the province to buy drugs.

Ms Gillespie said: ‘‘The operation was the climax of a protracted investigation into heroin dealing and is probably the most significant in Northern Ireland.

‘‘We have been gathering evidence and intelligence on certain people since last October and it is our aim to severely damage the heroin and Class A network in Northern Ireland.’’

In Ballymena police targeted 16 homes and made 12 arrests. In Belfast they hit 11 more and arrested six people.

Those detained were being questioned at police stations in Belfast and Ballymena, Antrim and Larne, Co Antrim.

Operation Galiot was initially mounted to hit the supply of the drug in Ballymena, but during the investigation it was found the network had to take in Belfast, said Ms Gillespie.

Long and careful planning had been needed to gather the information against those thought responsible.

‘‘These individuals are very much aware of conventional policing methods and

it does take time to get enough evidence to put before the court and we hope this operation has been successful in this regard.’’

She said the operation on its own would not solve the heroin problem in Northern Ireland, ‘‘but I am sure it will make a significant dent in the supply chain, and I hope the results will speak for themselves’’.

The exercise was aimed at arresting people rather than seizing drugs. But along the way police seized a small quantity of heroin.