A Merseyside man who handled loads of drugs that were found stashed in a glass jar and hidden near a public footpath has been jailed.
Police found Ciaran Hunter’s DNA all over packages of heroin and cocaine that had been hidden by the path, which was accessible via a car park off Stoneywood Brae, Aberdeen.
The drugs – worth more than £11,000 altogether – were concealed in the jar, Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told.
In September 2021, police received intelligence that Liverpudlian males were storing drugs in the area.
Officers then attended the scene at 10am on September 28 and carried out a search.
‘1,153 plastic packages were recovered from the glass jar’
Fiscal depute David Ballock said: “They recovered a glass jar containing 28 individual packages. Each of these packages contained a large quantity of wraps.
“In total, 1,153 plastic packages were recovered from the glass jar.”
Cocaine worth up to £6,320 and heroin valued up to £5,210 was seized.
DNA samples were taken from various wraps, and Hunter’s DNA was detected on six different ones containing both heroin and cocaine.
His DNA was also discovered on outer and inner knots and on the surfaces of packages.
Hunter, 29, of Huyton Church Road, Huyton, pled guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine and heroin.
‘He’s disgusted at having disappointed his family’
Defence agent Lynn Bentley told the court that her client had made various changes to his lifestyle since his offending.
“He has rid himself of a cocaine problem with the support of his family. He explained he was in debt to the person who supplied him with cocaine,” she explained.
The solicitor said he was invited to package the drugs as a way of paying off his debt.
She added: “He’s simply handed the packaged items back. He had no idea where they were going but he accepts it was obvious to him it was for onward supply.
“He’s disgusted at having disappointed his family.”
Sheriff Philip Mann jailed Hunter for 27 months.
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