Officers find £1.8 million in cocaine as man jailed for five years
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A man has been jailed after we found an estimated £1.8 million in cocaine in the back of his van.
Officers from Staffordshire’s Road Crime Team (RCT) acted on intelligence and stopped a Ford Transit that was travelling on the A500 in Stoke-on-Trent in February this year. The driver, 47-year-old Wesley Hughes, of Wallasey in Merseyside, has now been jailed for five years and ten months.
When he was stopped, officers opened the back of his van and started looking for drugs. We quickly found a plastic bag which had 12 one-kilogramme bricks of cocaine inside.
The drugs were later valued between £1.4 million and £1.8 million.
Despite originally saying on interview that he didn’t know how the drugs ended up there, Hughes pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply cocaine. He was sentenced at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court on Friday (21 August) and ordered to pay £228 in surcharge.
Superintendent Dan Ison said: “This conviction follows a regional organised crime unit (ROCU) investigation into the supply of class A drugs and demonstrates the important role we play in tackling serious and organised crime across the region.
“Officers seized cocaine with an estimated street value of £1.8 million, preventing a significant quantity of drugs from reaching our communities and causing further harm. The five-year prison sentence reflects the seriousness of the offence.
“ROCU will continue to use intelligence, specialist resources and collaborative working to identify and disrupt organised crime groups and bring those responsible to justice.”