The PSNI found drugs hidden in a garden shed and £1,500 cash inside a microwave during the search of a property where a suspected drug dealer was residing in Derry a court has heard.
Ryan Tracey, 37, of no fixed abode in Derry, has been charged with possession and possession with intent to supply Class B drug Cannabis, and obstructing police on November 10.
He has been further charged that between September 10 and November 10 he was concerned in the supply of Cannabis.
A police officer appeared in court to confirm that she could connect the accused to the charges and to oppose bail.
Outlining the case, she explained that a search was conducted at a house in Fernabbey Close. As a result £6,000 worth of Herbal Cannabis was found, along with drug paraphernalia. Police also found around £2,000 in cash.
There was no-one present when the search was carried out but police noticed a vehicle passing the house with those inside acting ‘suspiciously’. A few minutes later Tracey walked into the address and was subsequently arrested ‘on suspicion of drug offences’.
Police said the 37-year-old was not in possession of a mobile phone and that another mobile phone was found ‘smashed’ at the property. The majority of the drugs were found in a garden shed, the police officer explained.
The defendant’s partner was also arrested but later released without being charged as it was believed she ‘had no knowledge of what was in the shed’.
The police officer said that as Tracey was being conveyed to Strand Road Police Station, he told officers: “I’m no master criminal, I was just trying to make a few pound before Christmas.”
She also said that he provided police with ‘three different’ explanations, that he was ‘holding them’, was ‘not intending to supply’, and then said he was ‘supplying for a number of months’. Police believe the money, £1,500 of which was found in a microwave, and around £600 in a bedroom, ‘was in relation to drugs’
During police interview, ‘his attitude was that there was nothing really wrong with what he was doing as Cannabis will be legalised in a couple of years anyway’, the officer said. He also admitted he ‘did get rid’ of his mobile phone because he was ‘in fear it would identify his supplier’.
Police cited the main objections to bail as being a risk of interference with the course of justice and a risk of reoffending as the defendant has admitted he’s a Cannabis user, but the officer said that if Tracey’s mobile phone was handed in to the PSNI it may assuage any concerns.
A defence solicitor said the phone could be located ‘within the hour’ and delivered to Strand Road Police Station. However, the police officer notified the court that the defendant ‘doesn’t want police to know where it is’.
Tracey was remanded in custody and the case adjourned to a court sitting on Monday, November 13, for a bail application.
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