A MAN appeared in court in Belfast on Saturday charged in connection with an international investigation into organised crime.
Paul Meehan, (34) whose address was given as The Crescent, Sallis Park, Dublin, faced a total of 13 charges involving drugs, firearms, smuggling and the evasion of duty.
His appearance at Belfast Magistrates Court was the result of an investigation by the Garda, the Police Service of Northern Ireland and Dutch police into a suspected trafficking ring.
In the past week six people have been arrested in the three jurisdictions and a total of 230 handguns, thousands of rounds of ammunition, hundreds of thousands of euro notes and drugs with a street value of around €3.2 million were seized in Belfast, Dublin and Amsterdam.
Meehan, who appeared in the dock on crutches, faced firearms charges involving 37 weapons - 29 Glock automatic handguns, six Berettas, two Smith and Wessons, two silencers and ammunition. He was also charged with conspiracy to possess firearms.
He faced three charges of possessing criminal property - currency amounting to €246,350 (£198,795).
He was also charged with importing five kilos of cannabis and conspiring to process herbal cannabis. He was charged with trading in counterfeit goods, evading customs duty on cigarettes and evading duty on 3,810,000 counterfeit cigarettes.
There was no application for bail and Meehan was remanded in custody to appear at the same court via video link in four weeks.
Meehan's lawyer said his client was significantly disabled and asked for special arrangements to be made to enable him to be transported to prison in comfort rather than in the cramped vehicle in which he was taken to court.
On Friday Thomas Mulqueen Borrisokane, Co Tipperary, who was arrested on Tuesday, was remanded in custody in a Dublin Court on drugs charges. Three Dutchmen, aged 41, 42 and 53 and a 27-year-old Brazilian woman remain in custody in Amsterdam as part of the Dutch police end of the investigation. - ( PA)