A UDA member has been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison over a "significant'' drug dealing operation.
Ryan Andrew Tosh (35), of Kearney Gardens, Bangor, was also told that after his release he will spend 30 months on licence supervised by the Probation Board.
Tosh pleaded guilty to seven offences committed between February and December 2018, including possessing cocaine with intent to supply, being concerned in the supply of amphetamine, and supplying herbal cannabis.
He also admitted being a member of the UDA on dates between November 1 and December 13 2018.
His cousin Dean Ruberry (34), of Birch Drive, Bangor, was also ordered to carry out 100 hours of community service along with three years on probation but was warned by a judge that if he breached that order, he would faced up to 20 months in jail.
Ruberry admitted offering to supply MDMA between October 22 and 24 2018, and allowing his premises to be used for the production of cocaine on dates between December 1 and December 12 2012.
He said said to be "subservient'' to his co-accused who had produced and placed cocaine in his shed.
Passing sentence on the pair at Downpatrick Crown Court, Judge Geoffrey Miller said that although Tosh's drug offending was confined to dates between February and December 2018, "it is apparent from his boasts on social media traffic that his involvement goes back considerably further than that''.
"He chose to act as a dealer in Class A and Class B drugs in a significant way and primarily for financial gain, rather than to feed his (drug) habit."
The judge said it had been submitted that his membership of the UDA was only a means to continue his drug dealing in Bangor unhindered by paramilitaries, but this this was of little consequence by way of mitigation.
He said that although it was contended that only a small proportion of Tosh's profits went to the UDA, "any money paid to such gangsters only serves to give them some sort of quasi-legitimacy and also adds to the misery they inflict upon our society''.