A MAN alleged to have flooded the North West with drugs drove a £50,000 BMW and ordered a £665,000 boat shortly before his arrest, a court was told.

Gerald Deaffern allegedly imported, distributed and then laundered the proceeds of sale through a series of companies which were either controlled by him or by close business associates.

Raymond Wigglesworth, QC, prosecuting, told a jury that the 39-year-old allegedly bought plant and machinery for cash, paid the wages bill in Scottish banknotes and invested large sums of cash in companies run by friends.

The drugs money was laundered and returned to him in various ways, including his family home in Darwen being purchased for him, Liverpool Crown Court was told.

He drove around in a £50,000 BMW X5 and his wife had a £40,000 model and he ordered a boat to be built at a cost of £665,000, claimed Mr Wigglesworth. He invested or gave so much money to a businessman associate to launder that within 18 months he owed Deaffern more than £1million, the court was told.

The jury was told that Deaffern set up a convoluted way to get the money back by means of bank transfers to a company, Amonglen, he had set up just to receive the funds.

Deaffern, of Sunny Hill Close, Darwen, has pleaded not guilty to two charges involving conspiring to supply cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, amphetamine and cannabis between 2000 and March last year.

Mr Wigglesworth told the jury that they would be hearing evidence from a "supergrass" from Bolton who is currently in jail for his role in drug dealing and who has given evidence in other drug trials. "He was involved not only in Deaffern's supply chain but worked for other drug dealers throughout this period," he added.

"His evidence implicates Deaffern in these two alleged conspiracies. Deaffern you can be sure was an international drug supplier," he claimed.

The jury will also hear evidence about the movement of lorries between this country and Europe, telephone calls and the seizure of drugs at the Channel ports, he said.

The supergrass, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, had been involved in drug dealing in an international way and worked for a number of people including a man called Greg Rothwell

(Proceeding)