Northern Ireland

Man arrested after package containing £260k of cannabis seized

The haul was found following the interception of a package destined for an address in Banbridge
The haul was found following the interception of a package destined for an address in Banbridge The haul was found following the interception of a package destined for an address in Banbridge

POLICE have seized cannabis believed to be worth a quarter of a million pounds.

The haul was discovered following the interception of a package destined for an address in Banbridge, Co Down yesterday morning.

Police said a 53-year-old man was arrested following the search of a property in the Banbridge area and was last night helping police with their enquiries.

Detective Inspector Barry Hamilton, from the PSNI's Organised Crime Unit, said: "Today's arrest followed the recent interception of a parcel from the postal system containing approximately £260,000 of suspected cannabis.

"Tackling the illegal supply and use of drugs is a priority for police and seizures such as this demonstrate our ongoing commitment to tackling the scourge of drugs in our society.

"With this substantial amount of illegal drugs removed from our streets today, we continue to make Northern Ireland a hostile environment for those involved in drug dealing within our communities.

"We will seek to identify them, arrest them and bring them before the courts.

"Those involved in drugs criminality seek to line their own pockets at the expense of causing harm to others. They set out to ruin the communities that they live and operate in and they do not care about the damage that they cause, preying on those who are vulnerable.

"I would encourage anyone who has any information about the use or supply of illegal drugs to contact police on the non-emergency number 101 with any information they have."