A local man has been sentenced to 300 hours of unpaid community work after cannabis worth almost £50,000 was found at his home.

Anthony CASTRO, 53, of Naval Hospital Hill, was arrested after Drug Squad detectives conducted a search warrant at his residence on Thursday 20 August last year.

Inside his home, officers found a suitcase on top of a cupboard in CASTRO’s bedroom, containing cannabis resin weighing just under 10 kilograms.

He was then arrested on suspicion of Possession and Possession with Intent to Supply a Controlled Class B Drug.

Following an intensive investigation involving detectives from the Crime Scene Investigation team and Drug Squad, he was later charged with the same offences for which he was arrested.

Last month, he was found not guilty of Possession with Intent to Supply a Class B Drug by a Supreme Court jury.

CASTRO pleaded guilty to Possession of a Class B Drug from the start of the trial, and was sentenced at the Supreme Court today.