A gang used an untaxed Toyota Yaris to store more than £40,000 worth of heroin and crack cocaine.

Daniel Coyne, 33, and Andrew Smith, 46, were both stopped while driving by police and tried to swallow packets of heroin and crack cocaine to hide their shady activities.

The pair appeared at Preston Crown Court on Monday (March 27) alongside leader and co-defendant Shahid Farid to be sentenced for drug dealing.

Paul Cummings, prosecuting, said the group were involved in dealing class A drugs for about 10 months from November 1, 2021, until September 8, 2022.

Smith was stopped on two occasions in November 2021 when police found him in possession of drugs, and he was arrested.

Both times he was let go, and police caught him again on March 1, 2022, when officers saw a blue Audi which was linked to him driving around in Blackburn.

The car was stopped, and Smith was spoken to through the window and told he was going to be subject to a drug search.

Smith tried to swallow as many packets of drugs as he could and officers took him to the ground and he was arrested.

Officers found two tubs in the Audi which contained crack cocaine and heroin.

Then on August 1, Smith was again driving in Blackburn when he was approached by police.

He was seen swallowing contents, now known to be heroin, from a plastic tub and drinking from a water bottle.

He was arrested and officers recovered the heroin, a mobile phone and cash from the car.

On September 6, officers in Blackburn saw a Volkswagen being driven in Blackburn.

As they pulled up to the car, the driver and passenger looked ‘panicky’ with the passenger jumping out.

The driver, Coyne, tried to reverse away but when unsuccessful, he was seen swallowing as many drugs as he could and drinking water.

He was arrested and his phone and drugs were seized.

The following day, officers were searching for a Volkswagen Jetta in Blackburn as a result of messages found on Coyne’s phone.

This was when they found Farid next to the car and saw him approach another vehicle.

Officers stopped him and said he was subject to a drugs search, and officers found a number of mobile phones including one that had been used to contact both Coyne and Smith.

An untaxed Toyota Yaris which was linked to the group was found in Shakeshaft Street and discovered to be the ‘base for the operation'.

Inside, officers found up to £25,000 worth of crack cocaine and up to £17,000 worth of heroin.

Mitigating, Tom Lord, said Farid pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply class A drugs at the earliest opportunity but accepts this is his fourth strike drug conviction.

Appearing for Smith, David James said his client was now drug-free thanks to his time in custody, and since his arrest, his father has died and his mother has become ill, which has spurred him on to remain drug-free and show his family he can turn his life around.

Smith also pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply class A drugs and three counts of possession of class A drugs.

James Heyworth, for Coyne, said his client was of previous good character and since the offence he has got himself off drugs.

Coyne is also in a full-time job setting up 6G internet provisions and his mother has also fallen ill.

Coyne pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity to two counts of conspiracy to supply class A drugs.

Recorder Timothy Hannam jailed Farid, of Delph Lane, Blackburn, for six years and jailed Smith, of Lamberth Close, Blackburn, for three years and two months.

He handed Coyne, of Walton Cresent, Blackburn, a 24 month sentence suspended for two years.

As part of the order, Coyne must undertake 250 hours of unpaid work and 12 rehabilitation activity requirement days.