A DRUGS courier claimed he was paid £100 for transporting a £44,000 consignment of cocaine along the M6 near Carlisle.

Thirty-three-year-old Shimat Tshinhyoka was stopped by police as he was driving northwards in his BMW 116 series car on the M6 near Junction 41, on July 16, 2020, Carlisle Crown Court heard.

He admitted possessing cocaine – a Class A drug - with intent to supply and possessing cannabis with intent to  supply.

Joe Allman, prosecuting, said that after he was stopped the defendant told the police officers he had just been to Liverpool to visit  family. “But the officers could smell cannabis,” said the barrister.

“A search was conducted and a small tub containing cannabis was found in the front of the car in the centre console. There was 3.52g of the drug. In addition to that, a package was found in the boot of the car inside a Just Eat delivery bag.”

That bag contained a 892g package of wrapped cocaine, which was 24 per cent pure. Its potential street value, said Mr Allman, was £44,000.

After Tshinhyoka was arrested, police examined his phone and found incriminating messages on it – messages that suggested he had been working as a drugs courier and selling the drug himself in smaller quantities.

One message, sent the day before he was caught, referred to the journey he was making, with the sender asking the defendant if he wanted to “go down south tomorrow.”

In one dealing related message, the court heard, the send spoke of being at an address in The Gorbles in Glasgow and the contents suggested somebody there was seeking to buy cannabis.

Andrew Gurney, defending, said Tshinhyoka was a “low level” cannabis dealer. During the pandemic, as a way of coping with financial difficulties, he had taken up selling the Class B drug.

Commenting on the cocaine offence, Mr Gurney said: “He instructs me that he was acting as a courier on a low-level basis. He was contacted on this one occasion and asked to take a package from A to B.

“He was told not to look at that package and he was unaware of what was in it… He was paid £100 to do that.”

The lawyer said that Tshinhyoka knew the package contained something illicit but insisted that the defendant’s role in the drugs operation was “peripheral.” 

He added that the defendant, who fled the Democratic Republic of Congo following a change of government, was employed running his brother’s music studio and also cared for his 70-year-old father.

Judge Nicholas Dean QC noted that the defendant was a man of previous good character but said it was not realistic, given the seriousness of the offending, to not impose a custodial sentence.

Tshinhyoka, whose address was given as Avenuepark Street, Maryhill, Glasgow, was jailed for 28 months.

MORE FROM COURT: Extremely drunk woman kicked the doctor treating her in A&E