EIGHTEEN people arrested in connection with a major police swoop into an alleged £2.4million drugs supply and money laundering operation appeared at Burnley Crown Court.
The plea and directions hearing for the 18, some of whom were arrested in dawn raids in Burnley, Nelson and Brierfield, last summer, was adjourned and the case may be transferred to Preston Crown Court.
The defendants are charged with various drug-related offences, but the allegations were not put to them. They were all bailed.
During the police operation, codenamed Fiscal, officers raided Harle Syke post office, which was then closed.
Asif Khan, 20, of Barden Lane, Burnley, then the sub-postmaster at Harle Syke, has been accused of conspiracy to retain the proceeds of drug trafficking.
Operation Fiscal investigated the alleged supply of heroin across East Lancashire, but mostly in Nelson and Brierfield, and involving drugs with a street value of £2.4 million. Bank accounts were probed and vehicles, houses, £10,000 cash and a quantity of substances were seized.
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