Lancashire dealer busted with car full of cocaine is jailed for £800k drug supply

John Germaine, 33, of Holt Drive, Burscough, was found on September 27 last year on Bolton Road, Ashton-in-Makerfield, near Wigan, with £13,000 of cash and a one kilo bar of cocaine in the back seat of his white Ford Kuga.

In the glove compartment, police officers from the specialist Merseyside Organised Crime Partnership found a further £4,880 in cash and 124 grams of cocaine.

When OCP officers searched a storage unit in Burscough, which Germaine rented, they discovered nine more kilos of cocaine and 6.4 kilos of cannabis.

Police said Germaine used the storage unit to prepare drugs for onwards supply.

Between May 2019 and September 2021 there were deposits and outgoings from Germaine’s bank account totalling around £133,000. During the same period, he paid just £730 tax from his job as a courier.

He admitted possession with intent to supply Class A and B drugs and possession of criminal property at Liverpool Crown Court, and was jailed for nine years and two months.

His friend Daniel Weaver, 35, of Cherry Lane, Anfield, Liverpool, was found guilty by a jury of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs and acquiring/using criminal property, and was jailed for seven years.

Detective Chief Inspector Paul Speight said: “Germaine was clearly an important link between street deals and larger consignments of drugs moving around the North West.

“He played a leading role in this conspiracy as he’d rented and operated a secure location where he could prepare his deals.”