Ireland used as 'drugs gateway'

Illegal drugs are being transported through Ireland

Ireland is being used as a gateway into Europe by drugs smugglers, the head of the PSNI drugs squad has said.

Senior police officers from around the UK are in Belfast on Wednesday for a major conference on drugs.

Detective Superintendent Garry Clarke said there have been some recent successes.

He said that in the past two months, the police had secured the convictions of 14 people across six separate gangs for drugs related offences.

He said that, in the last week alone, the police have seized cocaine worth £300,000 in Belfast and Ballymena.

In the last year, more than £15m worth of cannabis has been recovered in an ongoing operation.

"Crime gangs which traffic drugs will not find Northern Ireland a soft touch," he said.

"It is in all our interests, and our children's interests, to ensure they are disrupted and dismantled."