Cocaine: Man charged over £1.8m of suspected drugs found in Omagh

The court heard police searched the vehicle and located “15 packages secreted in a hide”.

The officer said “at that stage” police believed the packages contained Class A controlled drugs with an approximate value of £750,000.

The court heard that during police interview the defendant accepted he was the owner of the vehicle, which is registered and insured to him.

The police officer said Mr O’Donnell also accepted a mobile phone seized from the vehicle belonged to him.

“The defendant said no comment to all questions relating to what was contained in the 15 packages seized by police, where they came from and what he intended to do with them,” the court was told.

The officer said the mobile phone seized from the defendant was examined by the PSNI’s Cyber Support Unit who gained access to the device, despite an incorrect passcode being supplied by the accused.

The court heard this identified GPS information showing the device travelled from Londonderry to Thomastown in the Republic of Ireland before returning to Northern Ireland, via Aughnacloy, prior to the defendant being stopped by police.

The officer told the court police weighed the 15 packages of suspected cocaine and confirmed the weight, including packaging, to be more than 18kg.

She added this put the estimated street value “in the region of £1.8m”.