A BARROW man accused of playing a role in a massive cocaine trafficking plot has gone on trial. 

Jordan Azli Dominic Graham, 28, of Church Street, Barrow, appeared before Carlisle Crown Court on Tuesday for the first day of the trial. 

John David Lawrence, 31, is also on trial. 

Both deny involvement in a large scale conspiracy run between Cumbria and other areas of the North West. 

It is alleged the men were part of a huge cocaine distribution operation. 

This was said to have also involved more than a dozen other people - some with Carlisle, Workington and Barrow addresses - who, the jury heard, have previously admitted their guilt. 

Jurors were told police seized £1 million worth of illegal substances as they targeted key players between April and September last year. 

Opening the case, Brendan Burke, prosecuting, said those involved in the criminal network travelled between Cumbria and other areas including Liverpool, Stockport and Manchester. The plot was said to have been masterminded by prisoner Patrick White from his cell. 

"He dealt with a network of suppliers, couriers, street dealers and people to launder the money," said Mr Burke. 

Drugs worth "around and about £1 million" were seized by police who made vehicle stops - including on the M6 in Cumbria - and searched addresses in the Stockport area. 

Yet Mr Burke said this was a mere "snapshot" of the illegal enterprise. 

"This drugs business was going on day in, day out," he told the jury. 

"Just a few occasions when police jumped on someone. This cannot, you might think, reflect the totality of what was going on because this operation was running for months." 

Graham, of Church Street, Barrow, was said to have played a "mid-level role" in the plot. 

"He is willing to admit being part of White's drug dealing network but only as a cannabis dealer," Mr Burke said. 

But this, the barrister alleged, was a "confession and avoid tactic", and he went on: "He (Graham) can't avoid accepting he is deeply immersed in the criminal organisation so he has gone for the cannabis option." 

The court heard Lawrence, of Hillside Avenue, St Helens, had admitted a charge of supplying methcathinone - described as a "poor man's cocaine" - into the criminal network. 

He was also said to be in touch with White via illegally held phones in prison. 

But he, like Graham, emphatically denied conspiring to supply cocaine. 

Mr Burke showed the jury a charge sheet containing "many other names" - all of whom had pleaded guilty to being part of the cocaine plot. 

However, he said to jurors: "What it does not mean is that you say 'that lot are guilty so these two (Graham and Lawrence) must be'. 

"You have got to look at the evidence that we bring before you." 

Mr Burke added: "Whether or not these two had any part to play is what you have to decide." 

The trial continues.