Woman is refused bail over £2.5m drugs seizure

A WOMAN allegedly linked to the seizure of more than £2.5m worth of cannabis in Belfast uses different identities, including being known as “Big Sister”, the High Court heard yesterday.

Prosecutors claimed Hua Chen was involved in renting properties where drugs imported from other countries were stored, including a potential connection with Canada.

Details emerged as the 34-year-old Chinese national, of no fixed abode, was refused bail over her suspected role in a crime gang distributing huge consignments.

Chen was arrested with four men during a police operation in south and east Belfast on November 29 last year.

Packages of cannabis were discovered at a property on Wellesley Avenue allegedly being used as a store house.

Officers then targeted a second address on Templemore Avenue where a further quantity was recovered.

Chen was not in that house, but was allegedly detained nearby.

Crown lawyer Kate McKay said the accused’s true identity remains a mystery.

“Asked if she used any other names she said she is sometimes known as ‘Big Sister’,” Mrs McKay said.

Chen faces charges of conspiracy to supply Class B drugs and illegal entry to the UK.

Defence counsel Declan Quinn argued that if any links are established between his client and the addresses she will have been “an unwitting victim of others”.

He said: “She is not someone with the trappings of wealth.”