A DRUG courier has been jailed after he was caught bringing almost £200,000 worth of heroin from Liverpool to Devon for a County Lines drugs gang.

Barry Rose was stopped on the M5 as he headed back to his home in Newton Abbot with two kilograms in his car two days before Christmas 2020. Phone and number plate recognition evidence showed he had made several previous trips.

Messages on his phone showed he had been selling cocaine and cannabis on a much smaller scale for six months before he was caught. 

He was a drug user who was recruited after he got into debt to a Liverpool based gang.

He was also acting as middleman for local drug dealers who were sourcing their supplies from Liverpool, Exeter Crown Court was told.

Rose, 30, of Drake Road, Newton Abbot, admitted possession of heroin with intent to supply and being concerned in the supply of cannabis and cocaine. He was jailed for six years by Judge Neil Davey, KC.

He told Rose: ‘I do not accept that you performed a limited function under direction or were carrying out errands but I do accept that you first became involved due to your own use of drugs and debts to dealers.

‘You were trusted to make many trips to and from Liverpool, bringing back large quantities of drugs of high value. 

‘You also took the opportunity to make money on the side by taking advantage of your contacts.

‘There is no evidence of you acquiring a lot of property. There is no application under the Proceeds of Crime Act. Looking at your home, this is not an Aladdin’s Cave case.

‘You engaged in the supply of high value drugs for a period of almost six months. I reject the suggestion that you were naïve. 

‘You engaged in this clear-sightedly and plainly had some understanding of the scale of the operation.’

Mr Rowan Jenkins, prosecuting, said Rose was stopped on December 23, 2020 and police found four half kilogram blocks of pressed heroin in his car. 

The drugs had a street value of £196,000. 

An analysis of his previous movements and his phone revealed previous trips. 

The phone had been used to communicate with other dealers and to sell cocaine and cannabis on a street level. 

Mr Martin Salloway, defending, said Rose has had to endure a very long delay in the case coming to court but has used the time to address his own drug problems while staying out of trouble.

He has family responsibilities to his children in Devon and to his elderly family in Wales.