Detectives from the Police Service of Northern Ireland's Organised Crime Unit, working with Belfast Harbour Police and the National Crime Agency (NCA), carried out an operation in the Belfast Harbour area on Thursday 24 September.

A car that had arrived on an overnight ferry was stopped and searched earlier in the morning. Officers discovered a substantial quantity of cash, estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands of pounds, concealed within a sophisticated hide.

The 36-year-old driver was arrested on suspicion of possession of criminal property. He was taken to Musgrave Police Station for questioning and remains in custody as enquiries continue. The vehicle, the cash, a mobile phone and other items were also seized for further examination.

Detective Inspector Conor Sweeney said: "This search and subsequent seizure was conducted as part of our ongoing commitment to address criminality linked to organised criminal groups. "This amount of purchasing power in the hands of an organised criminal group represented a real potential for harm.

"By working with our partners, we were able to seize the cash on this occasion and deprive this particular group of that purchasing power.

"We remain committed to detecting and preventing the smuggling of illegal commodities, be it drugs, cash, stolen goods or any other illicit item, into and through Northern Ireland.

"We rely on the help of the community to do so and I would appeal to anyone with any information about this type of activity to contact police on the non-emergency number 101."

Alternatively, information can be provided online via the non-emergency reporting form at reporting.psni.police.uk/appeals.

The independent charity Crimestoppers can also be contacted anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at crimestoppers-uk.org/.