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Northern Ireland 'soft touch' for cocaine smugglers | |
(about 6 hours later) | |
Northern Ireland is "a soft touch" for international drugs smugglers, a former police chief has said. | |
Alan McQuillan was speaking after one of the largest amounts of cocaine ever found in Northern Ireland was discovered in a furniture delivery. | |
About 50 kg of the drug was found packed into suitcases at a shop in Ballygawley, County Tyrone, on Tuesday. | |
In an unconnected incident, 20 kg of cocaine was seized in a shipment police believe was bound for Fermanagh. | |
It was discovered at a port in the Netherlands. Dutch police believe it was destined for County Fermanagh. | |
Mr McQuillan, a former assistant PSNI chief constable, said the two consignments could be worth between £10m to £14m on the street. | |
"These huge quantities of drugs are moving through Northern Ireland. It is being used as a trans-shipment point and some of this is probably for the Irish Republic and some for the United Kingdom," he said. | |
"Sadly, Northern Ireland now seems to be a soft touch for this because we don't have the National Crime Agency here and there is a glaring gap in our defences. | |
"We are behind the game with the rest of the UK and the rest of Ireland." | |
Mr McQuillan said the drugs had been discovered "fortuitously". | |
'Low risk route' | |
He said cuts to PSNI budgets and a skills issue because of the lack of a National Crime Agency made Northern Ireland "a weak link" and an easier way to deliver drugs to both the rest of the UK and the Republic of Ireland. | |
He warned that if the drugs cartels viewed Northern Ireland as a low risk route, then they would use it. | |
"We do really need an effective system for sharing the intelligence and combating these people," he said. | |
The National Crime Agency (NCA) has only limited powers in Northern Ireland. | |
Under the 1998 agreement that led to a political settlement and power-sharing in Northern Ireland, policing was subjected to a far higher degree of community oversight and monitoring than in other parts of the UK. The chief constable and officers are responsible to the Policing Board. | |
The NCA answers directly to the home secretary, meaning there can be no local oversight or control - and nationalist parties in the Northern Ireland Assembly said that it could operate as a parallel but unaccountable police force. | |
The NCA will carry out its border and customs functions in Northern Ireland - but not its other crime-fighting roles. | |
A police detective said there was no suggestion that the company based at the premises knew what was in the container found in Tyrone. No-one has been arrested. | |
Justice Minister David Ford said the seizure would "undoubtedly prevent more misery and possibly save lives". | |
"We must never become complacent about the dangers of illegal drugs, because they ruin lives and can ruin communities," he said. | "We must never become complacent about the dangers of illegal drugs, because they ruin lives and can ruin communities," he said. |