Three men were charged tonight by police investigating extortion by loyalists in east Antrim. Two of them, aged 41 and 25, were accused of blackmail and terrorist funding.
A third, aged 43, was charged with having a gun and ammunition under suspicious circumstances. The three will appear before a magistrate in Belfast tomorrow.
The three were detained by detectives belonging to the organised crime unit investigating extortion in Carrickfergus, Co.Antrim which is suspected of being linked to the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Defence Association.