Ten soldiers have been arrested after a stash of 'white powder' - suspected to be cocaine - was seized from their barracks in Northern Ireland.

Red Caps from the Royal Military Police (RMP) raided the army base at dawn yesterday after discovering evidence of drug dealing on a phone that they had found.

Last night the ten Royal Scots Borderers were being questioned by military police over the stash, which was seized from lockers.

Dawn raid: Ten soldiers have been arrested after a stash of 'white powder' - suspected to be cocaine - was discovered by military police at Palace Barracks in Holywood, near Belfast

The troops are based at Palace Barracks in Holywood and are part of the Royal Regiment of Scotland - whose colonel in chief is the Queen.

Last night comrades among the 600 troops stationed at the site near Belfast were said to be in shock.

A source told The Sun: 'The base is in meltdown. It does not look good for the Army. RMP lads burst in at first light and found white powder in lockers. It's an utter scandal.

'Apparently the arrests came after a mobile phone was found that suggested some dealing was going on. Rooms have been turned upside down.'

Suspected drug dealing: Red Caps from the Royal Military Police stormed the Army base at 5.30am yesterday after finding evidence of drug dealing on a mobile phone

After storming the barracks at 5.30am, military police arrested nine men - and a further arrest warrant saw a tenth soldier detained a few hours later.

Senior officials are said to have put the historic Army base into lock-down while military police continue to search for drugs.

An Army spokesperson said: 'We are aware of an ongoing RMP investigation relating to allegations against service personnel based in Northern Ireland.

'As the investigation is ongoing it would be inappropriate to comment at this time.'



