Eleven people have been charged with drug offences today after being arrested yesterday in a police operation aimed at an alleged heroin network in Co Antrim.
Seven men were remanded in custody, and three men and a woman granted bail to appear at Ballymena Magistrates Court at various dates over the coming weeks.
The accused were all arrested when police mounted a series of raids in Ballymena yesterday.
A special operation involved more than 120 officers being used in raids on at least 17 addresses. The arrests were the culmination of months of undercover police work and the monitoring of CCTV footage.
The defendants were taken to the courthouse in Larne, Co Antrim, where they were kept in a series of police vans parked in the road outside until their individual case was called. The 11 accused faced a total of 31 charges.
More than 120 officers were involved in early morning raids on at least 17 locations. Quantities of Class A and C drugs, along with cash, were seized.