A LIVERPOOL man has been jailed after being caught with drugs worth more than £50,000 in Cumbria.

Anthony Robinson, 26, of Leithbridge Close, Liverpool, was sentenced to 30 months in prison at Preston Crown Court today. He had pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply Class A drugs and possession with intent to supply Class B drugs at an earlier hearing.

Robinson’s Ford Fiesta was stopped by police on the northbound carriageway of the motorway near to junction 37, on September 29 of this year.

Officers believed there were controlled drugs in the car and called for the assistance of a police dog and handler, who searched the vehicle.

During this search a sports bag was found, containing a brown paper bag within which was a clear plastic knotted bag of loose, very fine white powder. This transpired to be nearly 1,000g of Benzocaine.

A second, separate and smaller clear knotted bag of compressed blocks of white powder was also located, which turned out to be 125g of high purity cocaine (Class A drug). Below them was 1000g of skunk cannabis (Class B drug).

Benzocaine is commonly used in the supply of cocaine as a bulking agent. Combined, the benzocaine and cocaine found in Robinson’s car would have been worth nearly £45,000 (street value).

The cannabis found would have had the potential street value of £10,000.

Robinson denied owning the sports bag containing the drugs but his fingerprints were recovered from it and also from a further bag within it.

PC Matthew Simpson, of the South Area Drug Squad, said: “Robinson thought that he could use the road network through Cumbria to transport drugs from Liverpool to Scotland.

"His arrest and subsequent prosecution demonstrates that it doesn’t matter if you aim to start and finish your journey out of our county, if you are travelling on our roads we will seek to catch you.

"The sentence handed down today also demonstrates that anyone involved in the supply of drugs will be targeted. Robinson’s single role was to courier the drugs from one place to another.

"His custodial sentence should act as a deterrent to anyone else who thinks that they will be treated lightly by the courts for what could be seen by some as a minor role in the drugs supply operation.”