A person arrested in England in reference to a £1.25m medicine seizure at Larne Port advised police he had swallowed 100 wraps of heroin, a court docket heard at the moment.
Mohammed Khan, 22, is believed to have made the claims in a bid to keep away from being dropped at Northern Eire for questioning concerning the consignment of cocaine and hashish, a detective stated.
Khan, of Salt Road in Bradford, was remanded into custody charged with conspiracy to produce Class A medication.
The haul was found throughout searches of a lorry that arrived on a crossing from Scotland on December 17 final yr.
Belfast Magistrates’ Courtroom heard seven kilos of cocaine, 32 kilos of hashish, and 5 kilos of ketamine had been discovered contained in the automobile’s cab.
The driving force of the lorry, 60-year-old Donald Moore, from Forthriver Street in Belfast, is at present on bail dealing with fees related to the seizure.
Khan was detained on Wednesday by PSNI’s Organised Crime Unit following inquiries with police in Yorkshire and West Midlands.
A detective stated he has been recognized by CCTV footage and surveillance as the person allegedly concerned in an trade with Moore at a service station in England.
Khan took an empty bag from the cab and returned with it, heavy and full, moments later, it was claimed.
“Once I stopped that automobile in Larne that very identifiable bag had these seven blocks of cocaine inside it,” the detective stated.
Opposing bail, she confused the cocaine’s excessive ranges of purity.
“We imagine this could be a sign of an individual with affordable standing inside the organised crime gang we assert he is part of,” the detective contended.
Doubts had been additionally expressed that if launched Khan would ever return to Northern Eire.
“He was extraordinarily afraid of flying and doesn’t absolutely seem to grasp the place he's,” the detective stated.
“Following his arrest he advised officers that he had swallowed 100 wraps of heroin, we imagine to keep away from going into custody and coming right here.”
These claims led to Khan being taken to hospital for medical examinations.
Requested if checks confirmed any signal of drug ingestion, the detective replied: “He suffered no unwell results (if he did swallow something)”.
Throughout cross-examination, no indication was on condition that Khan’s fingerprints have been discovered on the medicine.
Defence counsel Declan Quinn additionally confused the intervening 24-hour interval between the alleged handover and the seizure being made.
He advised District choose Amanda Brady his consumer lives at residence with a mom and disabled brother who rely upon him.
“This (alleged offending) is totally out of character,” Mr Quinn added.
“The defendant may be very a lot a fish out of water, he’s been crying and is indicative of somebody fully out of their depth.”
Refusing bail, Mrs Brady recognized s a danger of re-offending.
She stated: “I admire he's a younger man in a really troublesome place and could also be confused about what is de facto occurring.
“Nonetheless, this was a really substantial quantity of medicine.”
She remanded Khan in custody to look once more by video-link on October 21.
In the meantime, a 41-year-old man charged as a part of the investigation can be due earlier than the identical court docket subsequent month.