A DRIVER caught on the M6 in a car containing cocaine potentially worth more than £92,000 has been jailed.
Maurice Smith, 56, was travelling southbound near Carlisle in a silver BMW with his nine-year-old daughter when police stopped the vehicle. Officers had spotted it being driven suspiciously, at around 2pm on August 1, and found it wasn’t taxed.
When the car was searched, 250g of high purity cocaine was found inside a child’s cardboard toy box, and £1,130 cash was also located. The illegal class A cargo, a police drugs expert had concluded, could potentially be worth between £74,000 and £92,500 on the street if “bulked out” into greater quantities.
Smith, of Craika Road, Dearham, was sentenced at Carlisle Crown Court today (MON), having admitted possessing cocaine with intent to supply.
He was handed a 40-month prison sentence by Recorder Kevin Grice, who said it was an “aggravating feature” that Smith’s young daughter was in the car at the time.
“The more cynical may think that you were using the child, therefore, as cover for the transportation of drugs,” Recorder Grice stated.
