Man, 30, jailed for six years after officers find cocaine and £31,000 near Basingstoke

A man has been jailed for six years after officers found cocaine and more than £31,000 in a BMW he was driving near Basingstoke

Lawrence Hutchinson, 30, of Fullers Hill, Little Gransden, Cambridgeshire, was spotted driving erratically on Sunday 27 February last year.

Officers pulled him over on the A30, near the Wheatsheaf Pub, and found a bag containing white powder in the driver’s door.

They also found £30,810 in cash that had been wrapped in elastic bands and placed in a Tesco carrier bag.

Officers then discovered an additional £360 in cash and a piece of cardboard with a deal list written on it, as well as several ‘burner’ style mobile phones and an Encrophone.

The white powder found inside the vehicle was later confirmed to be cocaine.

Hutchinson was arrested and later charged with being concerned in the supply of a class A drug, possession of a class A drug and possession of criminal property.

He pleaded guilty to all three counts on Wednesday 18 May at Winchester Crown Court.

Hutchinson was jailed for six years in total at the same court on Friday 15 July.

The court ruled that he was responsible for the supply of 6kg of import grade cocaine.

A confiscation hearing will take place later for the money that was seized.

As part of the investigation, Hutchinson had admitted, at a previous hearing, driving a motor vehicle with a proportion of a specified controlled drug above the specified limit during the same incident. He received a 16-month driving ban.

Detective Constable Sam Grant, from the Northern Criminal Investigations Department, said: “I hope that this sentence sends out a strong message to drug dealers and those involved in drug deal networks, that offences of this kind will not be tolerated in Hampshire.

“This investigation came about as a result of some really good proactive work, in spotting and then stopping the car, by officers from Hampshire Constabulary’s Joint Operations Unit.

“We regularly carry out proactive work to target drug dealers who operate in this area.

“We are encouraging the public to continue to provide information to us about any issues and suspected drug activity in your area so that we can build a stronger picture of what is taking place and identify the areas to target.”