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Airport sniffer dogs collar drugs dealer
A FYLDE drug dealer who used Blackpool Airport to smuggle illegal substances into the UK has been jailed for eight years.
Police found almost 50,000 of Class A drugs at Gerard Davis' Hambleton home after he was arrested following a trip to Spain.
The 52-year-old former gambling addict had cocaine and amphetamines at his Meadowcroft Avenue home, as well as drugs paraphernalia including a hydraulic press used to pad down the drugs for transportation overseas.
A judge at Preston Crown Court was told Davis was "a cog in a wheel" even though his garage had been turned into a makeshift drugs factory for distribution of narcotics.
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Sniffer dogs based at Blackpool International Airport alerted police to Davis when he landed at the Squires Gate terminal on August 11 this year.
His luggage was X-rayed and a quantity of cannabis and amphetamine was found in his wash bag.
A search of his rented property in Hambleton uncovered cocaine and amphetamine in various places with a street value of more than 48,000 and 120-worth of heroin.
Police also searched Davis' sister's house on Ilkley Grove in Bispham, where 36,000 in cash was found in a safe.
Davis pleaded guilty to three counts of possessing illegal substances with intent to supply and one count of possessing criminal property.
Paul Brockwell, prosecuting, said police believed a hydraulic press machine found at Davis' home was used to flatten smaller items for distribution.
He added: "The prosecution believe it was there to flatten powder into smaller items that could be transported."
A heat sealing machine and a list of addresses were also uncovered at Davis' home.
Ken Hind, defending, said: "He unfortunately got himself into a situation where he had a gambling debt, owing 10,000. He got involved in order to offset what he owed.
"He was under considerable amounts of pressure from others and succumbed to that, rather than going to the authorities.
"The defendant was effectively a cog in the wheel."
Jailing Davis for eight years, Judge Anthony Russell QC, said: "The fact of the matter is that Class A drugs result in despair and misery.
You were effectively part of the wholesale distribution of such drugs."
DC Mike Brook, from Blackpool CID, welcomed the sentencing, saying: "Davis came to light after a drugs stop at Blackpool Airport.
"This was a decent haul from quite a professional set-up and this has been recognised by the judge in his sentence."
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Friday 25 May 2012
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