Banbridge man appears in court after £400,000 suspected cannabis seizure

A Banbridge man was one of three men accused of conspiracy to supply Class B drugs.

The three are Stephen Martin Hale, 30, of Summerhill, Banbridge; Samuel John White, 32, Crew Road, Maghera; and David McCaughan, 57, Ghent Place, Belfast.

McCaughan and White both face further counts of possessing herbal cannabis with intent to supply. Hale has been charged with having criminal property and White is accused of supplying Class B drugs.

A detective constable told Belfast Magistrates’ Court he could connect all three to the alleged offences.

Hale and McCaughan did not seek bail and were both remanded in custody to appear again in four weeks time.

Opposing White’s application to be released, the officer said the drugs seizure resulted from proactive investigation run by the PSNI’s Organised Crime Branch over a number of months.

He disclosed that a Scania lorry driven by White arrived in Belfast after travelling on a ferry from Cairnryan. Boxes were unloaded and packed into a waiting Volkswagen Passat that was then stopped and searched.

Twenty kilos of suspected herbal cannabis with an estimated street value of £400,000 was recovered, the court heard.

The detective claimed an organised crime group had suffered a substantial loss of drugs due to the seizure.

“There are other members that may or may not ever be identified, but there are ongoing inquiries to try and identify them,” he added. “There’s also a risk of flight. He’s a lorry driver who travels across the UK and Europe and he may never return.”

White’s solicitor described his client as an ordinary family man who works for a construction firm and occasionally carries out other delivery jobs.

“He says he was contacted by another individual who may be a co-accused asking him to pick up boxes from another person in England,” the lawyer said.

It was claimed that White believed the packages could have contained tobacco. Refusing bail, District Judge Fiona Bagnall cited the risk of possible re-offending. White was also remanded in custody to appear again by video-link on 7 May.