Bail for Chinese student accused of being head of £15m Northern Ireland drug scandal

She accumulated £75,000 in her bank accounts over a year

belfast drug scandal fitzroy avenue Holylands south belfast

Chinese student Yahan Wang has just been granted bail following a “huge” international drug dealing crackdown which saw £15 million worth of cannabis sent to Northern Ireland.

The 24-year-old has been suspended from her Media Studies course at Coventry University and is being accused of two counts of importing herbal cannabis, conspiracy to supply, and possessing the Class B drug with intent to supply between January and March 2015.

During Thursday’s hearing it was found that despite being an unemployed student, Miss Wang had accumulated £75,000 in three bank accounts over the course of a year.

Wang was arrested by West Midlands police on Wednesday before being brought to Northern Ireland for questioning.

Yahan Wang is to be released on a £20,000 bail, paid for by her parents, and will be under effective house arrest on Fitzroy Avenue after finishing her degree at Coventry.

Wang, with an address at Southside Central Walk in Birmingham, is said to be close to completing her Media Studies degree, and the judge cited her ongoing academic studies as “compelling reasons” why the student wouldn’t try to flee.

Wang must then live with her parents, who have moved from their “affluent” background in China to a flat Fitzroy Avenue, report to police daily, and have no contact with her co-accused.


The drug ring Miss Wang is believed to be involved in has recently been the target of international investigation, including the Italian Carabinieri, the PSNI and the National Crime agency.

PSNI officers working with the National Crime Agency and Italian Carabinieri were said to have carried out searches at 18 properties in Northern Ireland this year.

Packages were allegedly shipped from Italy to Northern Ireland and houses that Miss Wang has rented are being investigated, including one in County Down, in which £350,000 of cannabis was found.

Photo released by PSNI

Police said Wang: “Sits at a high level within this organised crime gang and she plays a key, trusted, organisational role within the group.

“It is the police case that she facilitated the importation of multiple packages of cannabis into Northern Ireland.”

The detective constable said Wang travelled regularly between the UK mainland, Italy and China and “appears to have access to large sums of cash”.

Another seven Chinese men and one Vietnamese man appeared in Ards court in connection with the charges.