Fourteen people arrested yesterday in a major anti-drugs operation by police in the North have appeared in court in Ballymena, Larne and Belfast. Three were granted bail, the others have been remanded in custody.
The court appearances came after a major police operation against drugs, codenamed Operation Galiot, which involved months of planning and intelligence work. Four men from the Ballymena area appeared at a special sitting of the local magistrate's court.
They were remanded in custody for a week on a number of charges including supplying cocaine and heroin. Three had bail applications refused, while the fourth did not apply for it.
Six other men, all but one of them from the Ballymena area, were remanded in custody when they appeared in court at Larne on various drugs-related charges. A woman with an address in Ballymoney was charged with being concerned in the supply of heroin. She was granted bail.
Three other people arrested during the Drugs Squad operation appeared before Belfast Magistrates' court. Kevin Kelly, aged 32, of no fixed abode, was remanded in custody for a week on four counts of unlawfully supplying heroin last year.
Paul Quinn and Kerry Nixon, both aged 26, were charged with possessing heroin and having it with intent to supply. They were remanded on bail of £1,500 each, ordered to reside with their parents and they have to report to police three times a week.
The Magistrate also barred them from an area of South Belfast where a police officer said drug dealing takes place.
