Kilkenny man accused of bringing cocaine into Belfast on flight

A Co Kilkenny man has been remanded in custody accused of trying to import a £500,000 (€654,874) consignment of cocaine from South America into Northern Ireland.

Shane Delaney (30) was detained by Home Office Border Force officials at George Best Belfast City Airport on Sunday.

Mr Delaney, of Delouthry in Kilkenny, is understood to have flown in from London following a trip to Peru.

According to the Home Office more than 10kgs of suspected cocaine with a potential street value in excess of £500,000 were recovered.

National Crime Agency officers charged him with importing a Class A drug after several kgs of a substance suspected to be cocaine were recovered.

The accused spoke only in court to confirm he understood the charge against him.

A National Crime Agency officer told the court he could connect Mr Delaney to the alleged offence.

Defence counsel Richard McConkey said he was not in a position to seek bail at this stage.

District Judge Fiona Bagnall remanded the accused in custody to appear again by video-link in a week’s time.