A police search of a Seat car they stopped on the M62 near the Burtonwood exit found 26 packages containing cocaine worth £1m.
Along with the 26 kilos in various bags they found a knife and a hammer and when the home of the driver, Mark Barker, who had been heading towards Manchester, was raided they discovered £50,505 cash and 262 grams of cannabis with a street value of £2,300.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that officers also found a machete, an axe, heat sealing and cash counting machines and mobile phones.
Barker, age d50, of Nunts Park Avenue, Coventry, was today (Mon) jailed for 11 years and three months after pleading guilty to possessing cocaine and cannabis with intent to supply, possessing criminal property and a bladed article.
Nicola Daley, prosecuting, said that police stopped the Seat car at 12.30 pm on May 18 this year and he volunteered that there were drugs in the vehicle.
The 26 packages were found in a cardboard box in the rear, in a Lidl carrier bag, on the back seat and in a footwell.
When his home was searched as well as the cannabis and £50,505 cash officers also recovered his passport and 460 Euros and a Rolex watch. In the kitchen a gas canister and knives were also found.
Barker made no comment when interviewed but pleaded guilty on the basis he had been a custodian and courier.
His lawyer Stella Hayden said that Barker, who has no similar previous convictions and has never been to jail, had only become involved after pressure had been placed on his oldest son.
“He agreed to store the items as well as transport the cocaine. He was told where to take it and told a vehicle would follow him to make sure it would get there.”
He was working jet washing vehicles earning about £400 – £500 a week and has joint custody of his ten-year-old son, who is on the autistic spectrum and who will miss his support.
“He now knows he will be away from his son and unable to help and that is a significant price to pay,” said Miss Hayden.
