Canadian woman charged with importing cannabis into NI, NCA says

A 21-year-old woman has appeared in court charged with attempting to import drugs worth an estimated £700,000 into Northern Ireland, according to police.

The National Crime Agency said Xaena Bursey-Duff from Calgary, Canada was detained by officers on Saturday evening after Border Force staff at Belfast City Airport seized 36 kilos of cannabis from baggage that had arrived on a flight from London Heathrow.

Bursey-Duff was questioned after being transferred off a flight from Calgary in London and charged with importing controlled drugs and supplying controlled drugs, the NCA said.

At a hearing at Belfast Magistrates on Monday, she was remanded in custody until her next hearing at the same court on September 16.

The NCA released an image of around a dozen evidence bags containing the seized cannabis.