Three drug dealers caught with thousands of ecstasy tablets after police pulled over a pink sports car on the motorway have been jailed. Officers discovered more than £250,000 worth of drugs hidden inside the Ford Mustang being driven by Emily Philips when it was stopped on the M6 in Cheshire.
The car was spotted travelling at between 30 and 40mph and was said to be erratically moving between lanes without indicating, narrowly avoiding a number of collisions. It was stopped near to Junction 18 in Holmes Chapel at about 1am on Thursday, October 21, 2021.
Phillips was arrested at the scene on suspicion of dangerous driving. Her passenger Robert Dalton was taken to Sandbach Services and released by officers.
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But after police searched the Mustang and found ecstasy tablets valued at between £250,000 and £500,000 inside a bag, the pair were arrested on suspicion of drugs offences. The DNA of another man, Michael Smyth, was on some of the drugs packages and more ecstasy worth up to £1,300 was found in the 29-year-old’s home when he was later arrested by officers.
Phillips, 33, of St Georges Road, Swanley, Kent, pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of class A drugs and dangerous driving. She was jailed for 14 years and four months at Chester Crown Court on Thursday, December 22.
Smyth, of Compton Road, Liverpool, and Dalton, 40, of Old Road West, Gravesend, Kent, both pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply class A drugs.
Smyth was jailed for seven-and-a-half years and Dalton was imprisoned for five years and 10 months at Chester Crown Court.
Pc Mark Jones, who oversaw the investigation at Crewe Proactive CID, said: "With the strength of the evidence we were able to gather against Emily Phillips, Michael Smyth and Robert Dalton, they had little choice other than to plead guilty to the class A drug dealing offences they were charged with. Their convictions and the significant custodial sentences they have been handed by Chester Crown Court are the results of great work by all the officers involved in the case, which shows the value of police stop checks.
"What started as a basic stop check resulted in the seizure of a substantial amount of class A drugs. On top of that, Phillips, Smyth and Dalton are all now behind bars facing the consequences of their actions.
"I hope that the sentences they have been handed act as a warning to others and sends out a clear message that if you come to Cheshire to commit crime, you will be caught and you will be brought to justice."
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