Addict who stored £150k of cocaine for drugs gang is jailed

A SELF-confessed drug runner caught transporting and keeping £150,000 of cocaine for a gang he owed £5,000 has been jailed for three years and four months.

John Clifford Moorehead (42), who is originally from Antrim, had been on remand at Maghaberry Prison since he was caught with the drugs near Eglinton on November 9 last year.

The mechanic pleaded guilty to possessing 2.25 kilos of cocaine with intent to supply .

The Crown Court in Londonderry heard that a Volvo car being driven by Moorehead was stopped by police on the Clooney Road.

No drugs were found in an initial search of Moorehead and his car, but he was arrested on suspicion of drugs offences.

During his detention at Strand Road Police Station, officers searched his then home address at Birch Hill Meadows in Antrim. There they found six blocks of cocaine hidden in socks in a laundry basket in the front bedroom.

A more intensive search of Moorehead’s car revealed another 12 blocks of cocaine, six in each headrest.

Defence barrister Eoghan Devlin said as a result of cocaine addiction, Moorehead had accrued a £5,000 debt to dealers, who used it as leverage to get him to transport and store drugs for them.

Judge Babington said: “No matter how one looks at this, this is very serious offending. People who act like this must get a deterrent sentence to deter others from doing it in the future.”