Man is charged after £100k stash is found
A RAMSBOTTOM man has been charged after suspected criminal cash in excess of £100,000 was discovered hidden behind the dashboard of the Mercedes he was driving.
Border Force officers discovered the money on January 24 at the Channel Tunnel terminal in Kent.
The National Crime Agency investigators then arrested 29-year-old Ajet Balesi, an Albanian national living in Ramsbottom, alongside two other men he was travelling with on the day.
He was questioned by investigators and the cash was seized as the suspected proceeds of crime.
As part of the investigation a property in Bury, Greater Manchester, was searched by NCA officers.
Balesi was charged with attempting to conceal or transfer criminal property, and appeared before Folkestone Magistrates on January 26, where he was remanded in custody until his next appearance at Canterbury Crown Court on March 1.
The two other men, Albanian nationals aged 39 and 31, were released under investigation.