One of Northern Ireland's biggest drug seizures as £4m suspected cannabis found at Larne Port

Suspected cannabis with an estimated value of £4 million has been seized following a cross-border police operation.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and An Garda Síochána investigation uncovered the suspected drugs on a lorry travelling from Scotland to Larne, Co Antrim, on Monday.

A 53-year-old 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 remained in custody on Monday evening.

The suspected drugs were found concealed within a large number of boxes and are believed to have been destined for the Republic of Ireland.

“We believe the drugs in this consignment were intended to supply various organised crime groups across the island of Ireland,” the PSNI spokesperson said.

“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.”

They added: “We are delighted these drugs have been removed from our streets and that this income stream has been denied to the criminal network.

“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.”

Catch up with the latest UTV Live on ITVX

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter here.

Reporting History sees journalists join News At Ten anchor Tom Bradby to revisit their remarkable on-the-day reports of the defining events of the modern age. Listen to the episodes below...