A CO Down man appeared in court accused of importing £120,000 of cocaine inside an ornamental garden Buddha.
Banbridge Magistrates Court, sitting in Newry, heard claims that 28-year-old Andrew Malcolm Dodds used his sister's name and address to post the package to.
Dodds, from Stewarts Crescent in Rathfriland, appeared at court videolink from police custody where he was charged with conspiring to fraudulently import cocaine, attempted possession of the Class A controlled drug and attempted possession of a Class A controlled drug with intent to supply.
During a contested bail application, a prosecuting lawyer revealed outlined how the parcel, a “well-wrapped large Buddha garden ornament” and addressed to a woman in Rathfriland, was intercepted by UK Border Force.
"It is a hand-written label addressed to a young lady at an address in Rathfriland," said the lawyer adding that officers obtained warrants to search the property where the “quite candid” female resident told them: "my brother has been chasing me, he is expecting a parcel to be delivered, I'm guessing this must be it.”
After the siblings exchanged a handful of messages, Dodds appeared at the property and was arrested.
During police questioning, Dodds admits that he used cocaine and claims that during an easing of lock down restrictions, he was drinking in a bar in Newry when he was approached by a man he had never seen before.
"They take cocaine together in the toilets and before he knows it, he has essentially agreed £2,000 to accept delivery of a package and to deliver it to an unused nightclub address beyond the Carrickdale.'
"He can tell the police no more; he didn't ask what was in the package but he accepted that it wasn't going to be legitimate. He was doing it simply for the £2,000,” said they lawyer, adding that Dodds further claimed he “panicked” and threw his phone away.
Objecting to bail, the lawyer submitted that “under the circumstances, commission of further offences is a real possibility given the fact police are now in possession of £120,000 of alleged cocaine in which he is going to have to find a way of explaining to who he says is the mastermind behind this."
Defence solicitor Louise Moley argued that her client presented himself to police once he became aware of the situation and that he "co-operated with police throughout his detention through a series of three interviews over two days".
Denying bail however, District Judge Eamonn King, said Dodds “did not entirely co-operate” having gotten rid of his phone, knowing he was involved in a criminal enterprise.
Dodds is due back in court on July 15.
