Cleaner in trans-global drugs racket hid cocaine in tubs of Vanish
JAILED, DEALER WHO HAD £80K STASH IN HER HOME
A CLEANER who ran the UK side of a drugs racket from her home – in cahoots with a contact in Australia called ‘Joe MacAussie’ – had two Vanish tubs full of cocaine under her kitchen sink.
Police found £5,000 in cash, four mobile phones, five SIM cards, digital scales, 13.9 grams of ‘designer cannabis’ worth £140, 940g of Spice with a street value of £4,080 to £9,400, and 355g of MDMA with a value of between £10,400 and £14,200 at Gail Cotton’s house in Oldham.
Officers discovered two Vanish tubs under the sink containing a ‘white, rock-like substance,’ which tests showed was 59.6g of cocaine worth £6,000.
Now 55-year-old Cotton has been jailed.
Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court was told she let police into her home at around 6.45am on November 10 last year.
One of her phones contained numerous messages about selling Spice and showed she played a leading role in conspiring to produce the substance.
Messages between her and a contact in Australia, named in court as ‘Joe MacAussie,’ indicated she was operating the UK side of a drugs operation. The court heard she imported ingredients from China and supplied Spice around Britain.
In messages between Cotton and her Australian contact, it was discussed how they believed Greater Manchester Police rarely seized Spice on the streets – and how it was intended for the product to go to prisons.
Prosecutor Verity Quaite said Cotton had enough ingredients to make 10 kilos of Spice, with a potential street value of between £30,000 and £50,000.
“For the overall value [of all seized drugs], between £60,000 and £80,000 is a conservative estimate,” she added.
Defending, Ridley Holland said: “She was working full-time as a cleaner and had not abandoned that work ethic as a result of this side line, if it can be called that.”
He said Cotton had no previous convictions and that she had ‘quite a family network.’
“The separation from her family is not going to be easy,” he added. Sentencing, Judge Landale told Cotton: “You were producing Spice as a very profitable business, knowing some of it would be sold to prisons.
“I have to take account of the harm your actions can cause and Spice in prison can cause harm. “It can cause bullying, intimidation and serious crime and pressure on the families to bring it in. And for the staff in prison it causes lawlessness, bad behaviour and aggression. “The value of the drugs – cocaine, ecstasy, cannabis and Spice – is high and the profit to be made was very considerable.” Cotton, of Melling Road, Oldham, was sentenced to three years in prison after being found guilty of conspiring to produce Spice with intent to supply; possession of cocaine with intent to supply; possession of ecstasy and MDMA with intent to supply, and possession of cannabis with intent to supply.