Forklift driver (28) in court on charges relating to £6.5m drugs haul at Mallusk
Drugs worth £6.5m seized at a Co Antrim warehouse may have been smuggled in from the Netherlands for distribution throughout the United Kingdom, a court heard on Wednesday (March 5).
Consignments of cannabis, cocaine and ketamine hidden inside olive tins and other food packages had just been delivered when police raided the storage unit at Mallusk in Newtownabbey on Monday morning.
Details emerged as a 28-year-old forklift driver from London was remanded in custody on charges connected to the seizure. Sahiljeet Singh, of no fixed abode, denies counts of being concerned in the supply of Class A and Class B drugs.
Searches were carried out at the Antrim Road facilities in a joint agency task force operation between the PSNI and Garda Siochana.
An investigating detective told Belfast Magistrates Court Singh was located after unloading 24 pallets from a delivery lorry. He denied knowing anything about the drugs or their final destination.
Singh had flown to Belfast earlier that morning under instructions from his employer to deal with the delivery and help load the truck for outward dispatch, according to his account.
He allegedly informed the delivery driver that any six pallets could be randomly selected to be taken to an unknown location.
Searches at the scene uncovered some vacuum sealed packages of cannabis in boxes among food products with lapsed expiry dates.
Containing Olives
Another pallet held 69 tins labelled as containing olives. But when opened, police found 36 kilos of cocaine, 48 kilos of ketamine, and 90 kilos of cannabis resin.
“The (total) estimated value is £6.5m,” the detective confirmed.
During interviews Singh claims his boss had instructed him not to open any of the boxes because they contained food products.
He disclosed that he had worked for the same employer at three other different locations in the UK - Glasgow, Northampton and Walsall.
Asked about payment, he said that he received up to £1,500 a month in cash as a salary.
Singh claimed the arrangement involved meeting an unknown individual at an unknown location to be given the money.
One of the phones seized from him contained a message stating that other people were also taking the same risks to do the work, the court heard.
Singh insisted that the text related only to him lending out a sum of £2,200. Opposing his application for bail, the detective rejected any suggestion that he could live with a cousin in Holland.
“Police believe this shipment of drugs may have come from the Netherlands and was for onward dispatch throughout the UK via Belfast,” he revealed.
Defence counsel Sean Mullan argued that the illicit haul was still inside the packages when police swooped on the premises.
“Mr Singh is adamant he is not connected to these drugs and he had absolutely no knowledge of them,” the barrister insisted.
“He had been working for an individual who asked him to go to Belfast, paid for the flight and put him up in accommodation here.”
Bail was refused due to risks the accused could re-offend, flee or interfere with the investigation.
District Judge Syeven Keown observed: “His account is ‘I’m a specialist forklift driver and I get cash to fly from England to unload pallets’.
“It remains to be seen where the defendant fits into this large scale organised and professional drug operation. But on the facts outlined I am satisfied that he is (allegedly) involved.”
Singh was remanded in custody until April 2.