DUTCH authorities have intercepted £1m worth of cocaine destined for Fermanagh.
A PSNI spokesman said: “Dutch authorities have seized 20 kilos of cocaine at a port in Holland which was destined for the Fermanagh area of Northern Ireland. This seizure has been conservatively valued at £1 million.”
In an unrelated seizure, police have uncovered one of the biggest hauls of cocaine ever made in Northern Ireland.
An estimated 50 kilos of suspected cocaine were found at commercial premises in County Tyrone yesterday. Following the receipt of information District police officers examined a recently delivered container of furniture and identified two suitcases packed with bags of white powder. These have tested positive as cocaine during initial examination.
Detective Superintendent Noel Mullan, from Organised Crime Branch, said: “This was a fortuitous find and I want to commend District colleagues and everyone involved for their diligence when the suitcases were discovered. The white powder has been field tested at the scene and it registered as cocaine. It has now been taken to Forensic Science laboratories under armed guard at Seapark for detailed examination. There is no suggestion that the company based at the premises knew what was in the container.
“A conservative value for this haul would be £2.5 million. A street value would be substantially higher. It is undoubtedly one of the biggest cocaine finds ever made in Northern Ireland. To put this in context, over a three year period from 2011/12 to 2013/14 PSNI seized a total of 49 kilos of cocaine in 1,053 seizure incidents. This is an average of 47g per seizure incident. There were only two seizures of 3 kilos or more. Half of all seizures were of just 1g or less. Last night we got 50 kilos.”
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