A chef has appeared in court after £300,000 worth of cannabis and thousands of suspected smuggled cigarettes were discovered by police in the university area of Belfast.
Tandragee-based Jack Zhong Chen, also known as Bin Lin, is accused of evading customs duty, possession of cannabis, possession of cannabis with intent to supply and breach of an immigration restriction barring work.
A police officer told Belfast Magistrates’ Court on Saturday morning that the 43-year-old was arrested after police stopped a black BMW 7 Series on the Donegall Road in Belfast on Thursday.
He said the car was being driven by Chen, accompanied by an unknown woman, who was on his way to a house on nearby Virginia Way.
A man who allegedly tried to attack a member of train station staff with a Buckfast bottle claimed he was high on alcohol and drugs at the time, a court has been told.
South Belfast based Vincent Martin Irvine (36) is also accused of damaging hand sanitiser bottles after pushing over a display at Botanic Avenue station in the city.
A police officer told Belfast Magistrates Court on Saturday that on Thursday at around 10.50am Irvine was in the station and spoke to a male member of customer service staff before lighting a cigarette.
Irvine was told he couldn’t smoke indoors after which he took a bottle of Buckfast from his pocket. He was then told he couldn’t drink alcohol on a train and asked to leave the station.