Benidorm drug connection to Northern Ireland arrests

A MAN who ran a wholesale food distribution company in Benidorm has been refused bail in Northern Ireland under suspicion of importing 167 kilogrammes of hashish from Spain.
Stephen Dainty, who used to manage Britannia Foods in Benidorm, was caught in April 2015 with hashish worth around €1 million found packaged amongst orange juice cartons stacked onto a pallet in a white van.
The consignment of drugs was tracked from Spain through Britain to a house in Camlough in South Armagh, Ireland. Dainty was arrested along with three other men in April: Chris Connaughton, 36 of Enniscorthy in Ireland; Mark Fleetwood, 51, of Hall Green in Birmingham and 62-year-old Paul Green also from Birmingham.
Mr Dainty’s house in Birmingham was subsequently raided and documents allegedly relating to the shipping of the drugs were discovered.
Bail has been refused at every application as Mr Dainty allegedly has connections to international drug traffickers and would abscond if allowed out on release. Mr Justice Maguire of the High Court in Northern Ireland said it was clear this was “a case involving organised crime,” and that Mr Dainty would likely re-offend if released on bail.