POLICE SEIZED £700,000 worth of herbal cannabis as it was being moved from one car to another at a retail park in east Belfast, a court heard yesterday.
Officers also found £5,000 in cash hidden under a spare wheel during the intelligence-led swoop at the Holywood Exchange on Friday, the court was told.
Details emerged as five men accused of drugs offences connected to the operation were all remanded in custody.
Three of those charged have addresses in the North and two are from the Republic. Ciarán Parker (27), Westrock Road, and Kevin Sullivan (26), Lakeglen Parade, both in Belfast, and William Clarke (40), Stump Road, Ballywalter, Newtownards, Co Down, appeared before the court.
Two Dublin men, Lester Keating (40), of Corduff Road, Blanchardstown, and Paul Bennett (21), Ashwood Drive, Clondalkin, also appeared in the dock at Belfast Magistrates Court.
All five are charged with possessing class B drugs and possession with intent to supply.
A detective constable who said he could connect them with the offences opposed bail due to the amount of drugs recovered and concerns the suspects may leave Northern Ireland if released. The officer confirmed the estimated street value of the herbal cannabis recovered was about £700,000.
Disclosing how the men were detained, he said police stopped three cars at the Holywood Exchange on Friday morning.
“In one of the vehicles there was the herbal cannabis found in boxes,” the officer said. “In another one of the vehicles there was in the range of £5,000 in cash found hidden under a spare wheel in the boot of the vehicle.
“It’s believed prior to being stopped the three vehicles were close by in a car park moving boxes from one vehicle to another, and that money was then handed over.” Although Mr Clarke made no bail application, a solicitor for Mr Parker told the court his client accepted being the driver of the car where the drugs were found.
Mr Sullivan’s lawyer said his client, a taxi driver, informed police he was present in the same vehicle.
Under cross-examination the detective confirmed that when the arrests were made the brown boxes allegedly containing the cannabis were sealed with nothing to indicate their contents.