AN EXAMINATION of mobile phones that revealed indecent images of children and evidence of drug supply has led to an arrest and the seizure of £1m of cocaine in Co. Tyrone.
The phones were seized in Markethill, Co. Armagh in January as part of an investigation by the PSNI’s Organised Crime Unit.
After an examination of the phones, a 30-year-old man was arrested in Cookstown on Friday on suspicion of offences relating to drug supply, money laundering and indecent images of children.
Following related searches, suspected cocaine with an estimated street value of £1m was recovered from a property in Dungannon.
“This arrest comes as a result of the forensic examination of two mobile phone devices seized by detectives from a vehicle stopped in January in the Markethill area,” said Detective Inspector Conor Sweeney.
“The devices showed evidence of organised drug supply of both cocaine and cannabis and the movement of illicit cash.
“Indecent images of children were also uncovered on a phone.
“This arrest displays two things: firstly, our commitment to tackling this type of harm using all the technical capabilities at our disposal, and secondly, the multi-layered criminality that organised criminal groups are involved in.
“People do need to understand that for every gram of cocaine they buy from a drug dealer, there is a real level of harm behind that.
“This harm may not be immediately visible but it is very real.”
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