£65,000 drugs haul in Glenarm

Officers discovered 130 plants when they carried out a search at the property just before 4.00pm on Monday. Plant-cultivation equipment was also found at the scene and taken away by officers.

One eyewitness told the Larne Times: “I was amazed at the amount of stuff that was brought out of the house. There was a heavy police presence, including what looked like officers from the Tactical Support Unit.

“The police were also using ultra-violet lights inside the house and bringing the plants out and loading them on a trailer.”

Another local said Monday’s raid “came as no surprise”. He added: “There has been an awful lot of trouble caused by young people in Glenarm over the past year and if this is anything to go by then it has mostly been fuelled by drugs.”

East Antrim Sinn Fein representative, Oliver McMullan, congratulated police on the substantial find and said he was glad to see some progress being made in tackling the local drugs problem.

Mr McMullan contacted the Larne Times to say: “Sinn Fein has long been calling for action to be taken and has passed on the names of a number of people to police.

“I am pleased to see this has been acted on and this find proves that the drugs problem on the Antrim coast is bigger than the authorities have admitted. These drugs would have come back in to the Larne area and young people would have been suckered into buying and using them.”

The Moyle councillor called on local residents to play their part by “remaining vigilant” and reporting any suspicious activity to police.

“Certain people use small villages like Glenarm to grow these drugs, in the hope that it will go unnoticed, and I would urge residents to keep a watchful eye,” he added.

Cllr McMullan said he believed landlords especially should be vigilant to help prevent drug factories being set up in privately rented properties.

He added: “Landlords need to have a bigger role and should check up on their properties more often. It is a grey area that needs to be looked into.”

At the time of going to press, no arrests had been made in connection with the drugs haul.

A PSNI spokesman said, however, that officers were following a “definite line of inquiry” in relation to the find.