Man caught with over one MILLION pounds worth of cocaine in his Ford Fiesta on M621 motorway in Leeds

Officers made the astonishing discovery when they stopped David McGough in his Ford Fiesta on the M621 on the outskirts of Leeds city centre.

Leeds Crown Court heard the officers found a cardboard box in the footwell of the car with nine 1kg blocks of high purity cocaine inside.

Two mobile phones were seized from the car and videos were recovered which showed McGough boasting as he made journeys transporting vast quantities of cash and cocaine.

One clip appeared to show large blocks of the class A drug in the car and had a caption saying "five of the finest".

In another clip, large bundles of cash could be seen. An expert believed each bundle was £5,000 in £20 notes.

McGough was jailed for eight years and three months after pleading guilty to possessing cocaine with intent to supply.

Louise Pryke, prosecuting, said police officers made the discovery when they stopped McGough on the motorway on August 25 this year.

The cocaine had a purity of 88 per cent.

If mixed with other substances and sold on the streets it was estimated to be worth between £1.3m and £1.4m.

A police officer asked McGough if he had any Covid symptoms as he was arrested.

McGough replied that he was due to have his vaccination the following week but said he "might have to delay it for five, six, seven or eight years."

McGough's home on Hedley Chase, Armley, was searched and £900 in cash was seized.

Digital scales and a blender were found at the property and contained traces of cocaine.

Benzocaine, a common mixing agent for cocaine, was found in a rucksack.

The videos on the defendant's mobile phone revealed five occasions when he transported cash or drugs in July and August.

McGough has previous convictions and was out of prison on licence at the time.

Michael Walsh, mitigating. said McGough accepted he must face a lengthy prison sentence and had pleaded guilty to the offence at an early stage.

Mr Walsh said McGough had been out prison for just 11 weeks when he was caught with the drugs.

He said McGough had gone into prison in 2018 with significant drug debts.

Mr Walsh said: "He owed interest on the interest on the interest."

He added that McGough agreed to transport drugs and cash as a way of settling his debts.

Sentencing, Judge Simon Batiste said: "I accept that on this occasion you were acting as a courier of the drugs.

"But I make it clear that this was not an isolated incident.

"It was part of a pattern of behaviour that you were involved in.

"You were involved in handling very large amounts of money and drugs.

"You would have had a significant understanding of the operation given the amount of cash and money you were moving around."