Two drug runners have been sentenced by a judge after they were caught in South Cumbria with a £200,000 cannabis cargo.
Police followed a blue Audi north on the M6, just after 2pm on July 22 last year, and pulled the vehicle over after it left at junction 37 between Kendal and Sedbergh.
The Audi was driven by Janzaib Gul, 51, with Joseph McCrory, 43, a passenger. There was a strong smell of cannabis from the Audi and the men’s phones were seized.
After the car was taken to Kendal police station, Carlisle Crown Court heard, officers found the boot was “near filled” with bags for life containing four 1kg individually wrapped blocks of cannabis.
A drugs expert concluded this had an estimated potential total street value of between £40,000 and £200,000.
When interviewed, both men initially denied knowledge of the illegal cargo. Gul told police they were travelling from their homes in West Yorkshire so McCrory could buy a dog, and said he’d hardly before visited Cumbria.
McCrory said he’d never been to the county but told a different story, saying the pair were planning to “see the mountains”.
When later presented with damning evidence showing where their phones had been located on different occasions within Cumbria, the men admitted possessing cannabis with intent to supply. It was accepted they made two separate illegal excursions, Gul saying he did so in the expectation of reward at a time of financial pressure.
McCrory, meanwhile, had acted solely as a criminal courier, had no role in obtaining or distributing the cannabis and was fearful of identifying others higher up the criminal chain of command fearing for the safety of himself and family members.
The pair were sentenced in court earlier today.
McCrory — who also admitted simple cannabis possession — had been in custody on remand since the day he was arrested. In the process he’d served more than the equivalent of the year-long jail term he would have expected to receive for his offending. As a result he was given a two-year conditional discharge.
By contrast, Gul, of Rylestone Gardens, Bradford, had been on bail throughout the court proceedings. He had an 11-month jail term suspended for two years, and must complete rehabilitation work, 120 hours’ community service and a four-month electronically monitored night time curfew.
Recorder Julian Shaw, who passed sentence, also ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the cannabis.
