A man caught with £21,000 worth of cannabis in a hired van has admitted possession with intent to supply.
Andrew Bell was stopped by police in Clachnaharry in July of 2019.
When his vehicle was searched police recovered cannabis with a five-figure street value.
Bell, 39, was originally charged with being concerned in the supplying of a controlled drug, but his guilty plea to a lesser charge of possession with intent to supply at Inverness Sheriff Court was accepted by the Crown.
‘Intelligence’ led to drugs stop
Fiscal depute David Morton told the court it was “on the basis of intelligence information” that police had decided to stop Bell as he was driving a hired Citroen Berlingo van on July 1 2019.
“The van was taken to Burnett Road Police Station,” Mr Morton told the court.
A subsequent search of the vehicle uncovered numerous plastic bags and tins containing various quantities of cannabis, as well as two Alcatel mobile phones, two sets of digital scales and £5,400 in cash.
The court heard that the estimated total street value of the cannabis found was £21,000.
Sheriff Robert Frazer deferred sentence on Bell until June for the production of a criminal justice social work report and a restriction of liberty assessment.
Bell, of Milton Crescent, Inverness, was released on bail until the case calls again.
