NCA seizes 600 kg of cannabis in vegetable lorry at Templepatrick
National Crime Agency and Police Service of Northern Ireland officers stopped a lorry in Templepatrick on 3 June 2020 and recovered about 600 kg of herbal cannabis hidden among vegetables. Three men were arrested in what the NCA called its biggest ever drug seizure in Northern Ireland.
As part of an ongoing investigation into drug supply, National Crime Agency officers working jointly with the Police Service of Northern Ireland stopped a lorry in the Templepatrick area in the early hours of Wednesday 3 June 2020.[1][2]Officers recovered an estimated 600 kg of herbal cannabis from among a cover load of vegetables in the refrigerated lorry.[1][2]
Record seizure for the NCA
The agency called it the biggest drug seizure it had ever made in Northern Ireland, with an estimated street value there of between £10 million and £12 million.[1][2]Belfast branch commander David Cunningham said a seizure of this size would deprive the organised crime groups behind it of commodity and profit.[1][2]
Three arrested
NCA investigators arrested three men, including the lorry driver, on suspicion of conspiring to import controlled drugs.[1][2]The men, aged 62, 37 and 32 and from counties Tyrone, Londonderry and Armagh, remained in custody while officers searched two premises, one in County Londonderry and one in County Tyrone.[1][2]
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