06/06/2002

Substantial drugs haul in Hillsborough

Police have recovered a substantial quantity of illegal drugs in an operation outside Hillsborough today.

A car was stopped and searched by police on the A1 near Hillsborough at 11am on Thursday morning. The car was found to contain what is believed to be cannabis resin with an estimated street value of £750,000.

One man was arrested and is currently assisting police with their enquiries.

This is the latest in a catalogue of cannabis finds in the Province. On April 25, two Belfast men were arrested by Gardai after €2.5 million worth of cannabis resin was uncovered in Navan, Co Meath. The massive haul weighed in at over 200 kilos.

On the same day, a man and woman were arrested in Belfast in connection with a cannabis find with a street value of over £200,000.

The north has gained a growing reputation for drug abuse, prompting the former head of the PSNI's drugs squad, Judith Gillespie, to claim that use of ecstasy per capita in Northern Ireland far outstripped that of the rest of the UK.

(GMcG)

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