Police and customs officers seized several tonnes of cannabis from premises in Newtownards, County Down, on 10 October 2006, in what police called the largest drugs haul recorded in Northern Ireland.[1][2] Three tonnes of the drug, with an estimated street value of 18 million pounds, were found during a joint operation by the Police Service of Northern Ireland and officers from the Revenue and Customs Service, and two men were arrested.[1] A police spokesman called it a highly significant seizure and the largest cannabis seizure made in Northern Ireland.[1]

The drugs were understood to have arrived as a single shipment brought to an industrial unit in Newtownards, and police said a paramilitary link to the smuggling was not suspected.[2] The seizure was presented as part of the Organised Crime Task Force commitment to crack down on illegal drugs.[1][2]

Charges and pleas

Martin Kerfoot, 40, of Bangor, later pleaded not guilty to importing 3.5 tonnes of cannabis said to be worth 18 million pounds, as well as supplying cannabis and possessing it with intent to supply.[3] Stephen James McGivern, 32, of Sunderland, pleaded not guilty to possessing cannabis with intent to supply.[3] Both men had been arrested at the premises in October 2006, and the resin was found in a removal-firm lorry packed with wooden doors and in a hire lorry at the Quarry Heights warehouse.[3] McGivern was remanded in custody while Kerfoot was released on continuing bail.[3]