Four arrested in customs operations in the North

Four people have been arrested in a series of operations by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) over the last two weeks. Over 150,000 illegally imported cigarettes, and drugs with a street value of over £1m (€1.4m) have been seized.

On Wednesday of this week, a lorry driver from Dungannon, Co Tyrone was challenged by HMRC officers working at Dover Docks, as he arrived from Calais. Following the search of a lorry load of chocolates from Belgium, a pallet containing approximately 338 kilos of cannabis resin, with an estimated street value of £970,000 (€1,341,614), was discovered. A 46-year-old man was arrested in connection with the seizure and later charged with the importation of controlled drugs.

On 4 December (Tuesday), officers working at Belfast International Airport uncovered approximately 2 kilos herbal cannabis during a luggage search on a flight arriving from Amsterdam. The drugs have an estimated street value of £20,000 (€27,662). A 25-year-old Dublin man has been charged with the importation of controlled drugs. This is the second drugs seizure from flights arriving into airports in the North in the last two weeks, following an earlier seizure of Class A drugs.

On that occasion, 26-year-old Dutch National, Uiche Kingsley Nnadi was stopped by HMRC officers after arriving on a flight from Amsterdam. A total of 100 small packages weighing approximately 750 grammes with an estimated street value in excess of £30,000 (€41,494) were recovered. He was arrested and later charged with attempting to smuggle Class A drugs into the country. Nnadi appeared before Ballymena Magistrates Court on Saturday 1 December and was remanded in custody to appear at Antrim Magistrates Court on 18 December 2007.

In an operation targeting cigarette smuggling, officers seized a total of 151,726 illegally imported cigarettes during a search of commercial premises in the Shankill Road area. A 47-year-old female was arrested and subsequently released pending a report to the Public Prosecution Service.

John Whiting, Assistant Director, Criminal Investigation, for HMRC in the North said: “HMRC continues to play a key role in the fight to stop drugs entering the UK and to reduce the harm they do to our communities. We aim to protect society from the violence and corruption that always accompanies the trade in illegal drugs.

“In line with the UK government’s drug strategy, we work with our partners at home and abroad to reduce the availability of Class A drugs, while continuing to detect and prosecute smugglers of other illegal drugs such as cannabis.

“Anyone with information about activity they suspect may be linked to drugs or cigarette smuggling should call our 24 hour confidential line 0800 59 5000.”

Enquiries into all the offenses detected are ongoing.