GARDAÍ objected to bail being granted to a British citizen allegedly caught with €40,000 worth of cannabis and over €10,000 in cash in Cork City.

Frank Buttimer, solicitor, said Ikran Aslam, aged 37, was applying for bail and would turn up to face charges if released.

Garda Shane Halligan outlined the Garda objections to bail and, after hearing evidence at Cork District Court, Judge Olann Kelleher refused bail and remanded Mr Aslam in custody until October 23.

The defendant’s arrest followed a Garda operation which saw officers seize €40,000 worth of drugs and over €10,000 in cash in city.

Mr Aslam, with an address at The Avenue, Pembroke Woods, Passage West, Co Cork, made the application for bail yesterday.

Gardaí observed photographs from the defendant’s phone of a British passport and a Pakistani passport in his name.

Mr Buttimer said his instructions were that the defendant did not have a Pakistani passport. “Whatever you say you have a photo of could not be what you say it is.”

He said the accused had been in Ireland for the past year-and-a-half, co-operated fully with the investigation, and had a track record of employment.

In terms of co-operation, Garda Halligan said the defendant ran away after he was stopped driving on September 24 and found to have 25 deals of cannabis in “quarter-ounce and one-ounce deals”, and over €12,000 in cash. The value of the cannabis was €5,000.

Garda Halligan said the accused was caught and arrested shortly after he fled at Willowbank, Fairhill, Cork.

In a follow-up search at his home, a further 1.75kg of cannabis worth €35,000 and drugs paraphernalia were found in a wardrobe in his bedroom.

He was charged with possession of cannabis herb and possession of cannabis herb for sale or supply.