FIFTEEN thousand pounds worth of ‘legal highs’ seized by the PSNI in Londonderry in May were just that - perfectly legal - and have now been returned to the owner, the Sentinel can reveal.
Police in Londonderry announced in June 2012 that they had seized ‘a large quantity of a suspected harmful substances’ that they believed to be ‘legal highs’ following a search of premises on Thursday, May 31. They said the goods were estimated to be worth around £15,000.
But the Sentinel has now learned that after forensic testing that took months to complete - the PSNI told the Sentinel in September that the normal waiting time for forensic tests was four months - police realised there was nothing illegal about the goods.
The Sentinel asked the PSNI last Thursday if forensic testing had concluded yet and if the suspected ‘legal highs’ had been illegal at all. They weren’t.
