Bail refused to man (40) charged over £65k haul of ‘UDA drugs’
DRUGS worth £65,000 seized from a caravan are linked to the UDA, the High Court has been told.
Prosecutors said yesterday quantities of high purity cocaine and cannabis were located in a master bedroom of the static home in the seaside town of Millisle, Co Down.
Around £10,000 in bundles of cash was also recovered during last week’s police raid.
Mark Matthew Magowan is charged with possessing and being concerned in the supply of class A and B drugs in connection with the find.
The 40-year-old, of Carnalea Place in Belfast, faces a further count of having criminal property.
He was arrested along with a 44-year-old woman during the police operation on October 22.
During a bail application heard by the High Court, the prosecution claimed a house in Bangor searched as part of the investigation had “trappings of wealth” beyond the pair’s legitimate means.
Officers then trawled through a caravan located in Millisle, discovering drugs in the bedroom drawers.
A Crown lawyer said the cocaine appeared to have been taken straight off a pressed block.
“The seizure is estimated to be worth £65,000 and approximately £10,000 in cash was also (recovered),” she submitted.
“It’s a sophisticated, serious and well-organised enterprise.”
She alleged the case is connected to the “West Belfast UDA organised crime gang”.
Magowan’s female co-accused has also claimed that she had been under duress from local paramilitaries, the Crown prosecutor explained.
“She said she fell foul of one paramilitary group and was offered sanctuary by another,” the prosecutor added.
Defence counsel Richard McConkey argued during the hearing that Magowan knows nothing about the drugs.
“He doesn’t own the caravan... it’s not as though these items were found at his home,” the barrister said.
“At the minute there isn’t any forensic evidence to link him.”
Magowan’s application for bail was refused by the High Court Judge.
The hearing heard that it was due to the risk of potential reoffending.
Explaining his decision, Lord Justice Stephens told the court: “There’s a prima facie case against the applicant that he was involved in what can only be described as a dark trade which is entirely destructive to the lives of others.”