Darwen courier used the M6 to deliver £60,000 of heroin, cocaine and cannabis as part of a major drug trafficking plot

Sam Stone, of Lynwood Avenue, Darwen made almost a dozen trips to Cumbria during a drug dealing operation involving six other men.

The 54-year-old ex-soldier was jailed for four-and-a-half years after admitting charges of conspiring to supply heroin, cocaine and cannabis at Carlisle Crown Court.

During a two-day sentencing hearing, Judge Tony Lancaster heard details of a plot which was smashed by Cumbria police's serious and organised crime unit.

Prosecutor Francis McEntee said this concerned the supply of class A and class B drugs into Cumbria.

"It is apparent there were two different routes of supplying them: one from East Lancashire, that primarily involving the defendant Stone as a courier," said Mr McEntee.

Said to have been 'a serving soldier in the 1980s', Stone's role was confirmed on June 30 last year when his northbound vehicle was stopped by police on the M6, the court was told.

Officers searched his Peugeot and later his home.

Heroin, cocaine and just over two kilos of cannabis were seized. This had a total potential value of around £60,000, the court heard.

A second, Cheshire-based courier, carrying £75,000 worth of high purity cocaine, was pulled over on the M6 in late July.

These arrests proved crucial to investigators, who used information gathered during covert observations and also damning mobile phone data to bring down the gang.

The court heard Stone had also been seen, on June 15 and 23, in the Carlisle area at two apparent drug drops.

He and his six co-conspirators received jail sentences totalling almost 31 years.

Stone's barrister, Jeremy Lasker, said he admitted making nine trips to Cumbria within just five weeks, the overall length of the conspiracy being more than eight months.

He had only transported heroin on one occasion, stated Mr Lasker.

Judge Lancaster concluded the two M6 drug seizures provided a mere 'snapshot' of the overall criminal activity.

"I am sure that over the period of the conspiracy the underlying intention was to make significant sums of money," he concluded.

"All of the conspirators lent help and support to each of the others."

Kingpin Lee Jamieson, 30, of Churchfield Road, Liverpool was jailed for seven-and-a-half years for conspiracy to supply cocaine.

Prosecutors said he was said to have been 'at the centre' of the gang, organising the wholesale supply of high purity cocaine and directing the two couriers.

Fellow courier John Patefield, 49, of Rivacre Road Ellesmere Port, Cheshire was jailed for four years and eight months for conspiracy to supply cocaine.

While Andrew John Berry, 25, of Bower Street, Carlisle was jailed for two years for conspiracy to supply cannabis, Johnathan O’Neil, 28, of Creighton Avenue, Carlisle was jailed for seven-and-a-half years for conspiracy to supply cocaine, Darren Snowden, 45, of Brookside, Raffles, Carlisle was jailed two years and eight months for conspiracy to supply cocaine and Levi Howard, 30, of High Cliff, Barrow-in-Furness was jailed for two years for conspiracy to supply cannabis.