Drugs haul now estimated at €2m

A major drugs haul seized in the North and England is now estimated to be worth more than £2m (€2.3m), police said today.

Officers had provisionally estimated the value of the cocaine, speed and herbal cannabis recovered in the Co Down fishing town of Kilkeel, Belfast and Preston yesterday at just over £1m (€1.15m).

They issued the revised estimate as eight suspects continued to be questioned.

Nine people were arrested in the intelligence led police operation with £100,000 (€115,000) cash in sterling and euro notes also found.

Six kilos of cocaine, 22 kilos of speed and 20 kilos of herbal cannabis were found during a search of a lorry in Kilkeel.

As part of the same Police Service of Northern Ireland led operation, Greater Manchester Police and Lancashire Police searched a house in Preston, where one kilo of cocaine, 22 kilos of speed and 20 kilos of herbal cannabis were seized.

In follow-up searches in greater Belfast, six kilos of speed were seized along with the cash.

Police have ruled out paramilitary involvement in the illegal operation.

A total of eight searches were carried out in the North and five in England.

Five men were arrested in the North while three men and one woman were arrested in England.

The three men taken into custody in England were brought to the PSNI’s Serious Crime Suite in Co

Antrim where they were being questioned today along with the five other suspects.

The PSNI officer in charge of the Operation, Det Supt Essie Adair said:

“We are delighted with the amount of drugs which we have seized and the number of arrests which have been made.

“We believe we have dismantled an organised crime gang which was importing drugs into Northern Ireland.”

Mr Adair said the various police forces had been working together on the operation for over a year.

“We have been working closely with colleagues in the Serious Organised Crime Agency, Greater Manchester Police and Lancashire Constabulary for the past year,” he explained.

“We have been watching locations, vehicles and individuals.

“Within the past week, we started to get a clearer picture of the gang’s activities and decided to move to an overt stage of the operation on Saturday, which culminated in these significant seizures and arrests.”

The officer added: “This is one of the most significant seizures in recent times. We believe the drugs were brought into the UK from Holland before being taken to Northern Ireland. We believe they have a high purity value which would enable them to be ’cut’ several times before reaching the streets. Their ultimate value may be much higher than our current £2m estimate.”