Drug runner who had £40k of cocaine in his car jailed for two years

POLICE found cocaine with a possible street value of nearly £40,000 after stopping a drug courier's car on a motorway, a court heard.

Michael Lewis, 29, of Barton Lane, Barrow-upon-Humber, admitted possessing 249g of cocaine with intent to supply on June 6.

Jeremy Evans, prosecuting, told Grimsby Crown Court that police stopped a car being driven by Lewis on the eastbound M180 motorway.

They found a bag of cocaine with a purity of 79 per cent, compared with the usual street level of about 20 per cent. It would have made deals valued at £19,920.

If the cocaine had been mixed using other agents, it could have made a potential 900 street deals, worth about £39,840.

Lewis claimed he had been instructed to drive to Birmingham to pick up the haul and bring it to Grimsby.

Richard Lunn, mitigating, said Lewis had not named those higher up the chain because he claimed that, after a previous court appearance, there were people waiting outside the building to ensure he had "not been naming names".

Lewis had been naive and there was an element of his being exploited.

"He had very little knowledge of what was going to happen to the drug afterwards," claimed Mr Lunn.

Lewis was jailed for two years.

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