Lorry travelling from Scotland found carrying £4m of cannabis

Northern Irish Organised Crime detectives seized £4m of cannabis being smuggled inside a lorry travelling from Scotland on Monday.

Officers stopped the vehicle, which was travelling to Larne Harbour, and discovered the illicit drugs concealed within a large number of boxes.

A 53-year-old man was arrested at the scene on suspicion of possession of a class B controlled drug and possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply.

He remains in custody.

A police spokesperson said: “We believe the drugs in this consignment were intended to supply various organised crime groups across the island of Ireland.

“The Joint Agency Task Force was established with the aim of bringing a concerted and enhanced effort to tackle cross-jurisdictional organised crime.

“All partners within the Task Force are totally committed to working together to reduce the misery caused by drug smuggling and to dismantle the organised groups profiting from this type of criminality.”

The force confirmed it is “delighted” with the find and that an organised gang’s “income stream” has been disrupted.

A spokesperson added: “It isn’t difficult to imagine the harm that would have been caused by this volume of drugs being dealt on street corners to vulnerable people, children and those with addiction issues.

“Some people may think that the illegal distribution of cannabis is not a big deal. I’d ask them to just take a moment to think about the violence and exploitation that the organised criminals behind this could have wreaked upon our communities with the millions of pounds of profit they potentially stood to make.

“With the collective efforts of partners, we’ll work tirelessly to tackle such serious and organised criminality and bring those responsible to justice. We rely on the help of our community to do so and would appeal to anyone with information or concerns around illegal drug supply to contact us on 101.”