A van driver caught red-handed with a £60,000 cocaine stash hidden within a piece of furniture in the back of his vehicle has been jailed for four-and-a-half years.
David Whitehead, 42, was stopped by police in Frizington on July 23 having been tasked with delivering the criminal cargo to street dealers in order to pay off a drug debt he had accrued.
An initial search showed Whitehead had a clear bag of cocaine within his waistband along with £200 cash.
More than £5,000 in wads bearing individual names was also found within the vehicle, along with three large blocks of cocaine.
These were located in a secret compartment of a furniture cabinet in the back of his van.
Analysis of a mobile phone recovered by police showed exchanges which involved postcode alerts and estimated arrival times.
During the investigation, it emerged he had driven from his native Great Manchester and travelled to Keswick, Workington and Whitehaven before being caught out.
“The Crown’s case is that this defendant travelled from the Greater Manchester area to restock street dealers in the Cumbria area to return with cash payments from these drug deals,” prosecutor Holly Nelson told Carlisle Crown Court.
“He was a courier and wholesale restocker, trusted to carry large amounts of cocaine and cash.”
Whitehead, of Duffield Road, Salford, admitted possession of cocaine with intent to supply, and possessing criminal property. He had previously served a jail term of 10 years following a conviction, in 2010, for conspiracy to rob and having a handgun.
He was sentenced today when the court heard he had returned to criminality after losing his job during COVID.
He became isolated from the positive influences of personal training and rugby playing, instead taking drugs and racking up a £5,000 debt before agreeing to embark on the illegal excursion. He was remorseful for the perilous position in which he had left his family.
Jailing him for 54 months, Judge Simon Medland QC said: “You don’t need me to tell to that class A drugs ruin people’s lives because you know that.”
