A courier carrying more than 30kg of amphetamine between Wales and Merseyside was caught by undercover officers attempting to ditch "Christmas bags" of the drug.
Anthony Moorcroft, 52, was caught red-handed by undercover officers throwing the bags into bushes in Swansea after making the 240-mile drive from Merseyside. Swansea Crown Court heard police estimated the Christmas consignment of the class B drug could have been worth up to £93,000.
Caitlin Brazel, prosecuting, told the court that on the afternoon of December 6 this year plain clothes officers approached a white van parked in Ystrad Road in Fforestfach. As the officers got close they produced their warrant cards and identified themselves as police – Moorcroft responded by driving off at speed.
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The officers returned to their unmarked car and followed the fleeing van, and a short time later found the vehicle in a layby. The prosecutor said the sliding side-door of the van was open and the defendant was emptying the vehicle and throwing "Christmas bags" into roadside bushes.
Moorcroft was detained and officers recovered the festive bags from the floor and the bushes. In the bags, police found vacuum-sealed packages containing blocks of white powder. The court heard Moorcroft was arrested on suspicion of possession of Class A drugs with intent to supply, and he replied: "Amphetamine is a Class B drug".
A field test conducted on one of the blocks showed it was in fact amphetamine. The prosecutor said a total of some 31kg of the drug were seized at the scene which police estimated could be worth up to £93,000.
WalesOnline reported that In his subsequent interview Moorcroft gave police a prepared statement in which he accepted he had been acting as a courier for the drugs consignment. Moorcroft, of HMP Altcourse, had previously pleaded guilty to possession of amphetamine with intent to supply when he appeared in the dock for sentencing.
He has nine previous convictions for 15 offences, including one from 2011 for conspiracy to fraudulently evade a prohibition by importing a Class B drug into the UK for which he was sentenced to eight years in prison and was made the subject of a serious crime prevention order. Moorcroft was out on prison on licence at the time of his arrest, having been jailed in March this year for matters unrelated to drugs.
In mitigation, defence barrister Julian Nutter said the defendant had been acting as a drugs runner and there was no evidence to suggest he had been a "stakeholder" in the operation. He added his client had engaged in a "somewhat pathetic attempt" to dispose of the drugs by simply lobbing them into the bushes at the roadside. He called Moorcroft "small fry" in the operation.
Judge Catherine Richards said Moorcroft had clearly been trusted to delivers, and said his antecedent record provided support for the conclusion that he had known exactly what he was doing. With a one-third discount due to his guilty plea, Moorcroft was sentenced to four years and four months in prison.
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