Four men were remanded in custody on Wednesday accused of taking part in an operation to move up to £1.7m worth of cocaine in Belfast.
Brian McMullan, 34, Lee McKee, 26, Michael Moyes, 27, and Abdullah Hassan, 33, were arrested following transportations from a city centre apartment block to two waiting vehicles on Monday evening.
All four men appeared at Belfast Magistrates’ Court on charges including possessing Class A drugs with intent to supply.
An investigating detective said police observed the suspected handovers at locations close to a block of flats on McAuley Street.
McMullan, of Madrid Street in Belfast, allegedly left the complex with a large bag before carrying out separate interactions with his co-accused in the neighbourhood.
It was claimed that Moyes, of Stanhope Street in the city, received a package containing five blocks of cocaine while he waited in a Renault Clio car.
Mullan also passed a further three blocks into a Mercedes van jointly occupied by McKee, of Alexandra Terrace in Crumlin, and Hassan, from St James’ Crescent in Belfast, according to police.
Officers subsequently stopped both vehicles, seized the drugs and arrested all four defendants.
The court heard McMullan had been seen on CCTV footage entering the apartment complex earlier that evening while struggling to carry a heavy bag.
Minutes later he left again with an apparently lighter load before the suspected handovers.
Police found another six blocks of cocaine, one kilo of herbal cannabis and a pressing machine during a search of the apartment allegedly linked to him.
“The total approximate street value of the total 14 kilos of cocaine seized is estimated to be between £1.12m and £1.68m,” the detective disclosed.
McMullan has also been charged with possessing Class B drugs with intent to supply in connection with the seizures.
Hassan faces a further count of having an offensive weapon, namely a baseball bat.
He told police that he works with McKee at a used furniture store and unwittingly drove the van to the Market area after his colleague asked for help on another job.
The Somali national denied knowing the contents of the bag when it was handed into the vehicle.
Defence solicitor Andrew Russell told the court Hassan has never been in trouble before and fully cooperated with the investigation.
“He was entirely unsuspected on the way to this location,” Mr Russell insisted.
“This man is a ‘clean skin’ who didn’t know he was being brought for that purpose.”
Counsel for Moyes, Luke Curran, argued he was also unaware there was anything illegal about the bag he had been asked to collect.
Describing his client as a qualified electrician, Mr Curran submitted: “His role is at the bottom rung as a courier, it is whether he was knowingly involved in a criminal offence.”
McMullan’s barrister, Michael Halleron, claimed he poses a minimal risk of re-offending because police would be monitoring all of the defendants’ movements.
With McKee not seeking bail, District Judge Steven Keown refused bail for each of the co-accused and remanded all four men in custody until September 9.
Mr Keown said: “Based on the police case, this was a large-scale drugs operation, organised and involving a number of people handling approximately 14 kilos of cocaine worth between £1-2m, and the full extent is not yet known.”
