Antrim arson may have drugs link, says PSNI

A possible drugs link to a petrol bomb attack on a house in Co Antrim is under investigation, it emerged today.

A possible drugs link to a petrol bomb attack on a house in Co Antrim is under investigation, it emerged today.

Arsonists wrecked a mid-terrace in Harryville, Ballymena, within hours of Czech migrant workers moving in.

But detectives do not suspect a racial motive, believing the wrong house may have been targeted.

They are understood to be examining the theory that the petrol bombers planned to strike another address. "There may have been someone in the other house involved in drugs," a police source said.

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Two of the three occupants of the house on Moat Road were inside when two fire bombs were thrown through the living room window on Tuesday night.

They escaped uninjured, but the property's ground floor was gutted by the fire.

The house had been vacant for some time, but despite its location in the heart of a loyalist stronghold, paramilitary involvement was denied.