Drug lord caught on M6 with new passport and £10k 'as he tried to flee abroad'
Drug lord caught on M6 with new passport and £10k 'as he tried to flee abroad'
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A drug dealer who was caught moments before he fled the country with a new passport and £10,000 in cash has been jailed. Peter Rogers' criminal enterprise was crumbling when he was caught driving his Nissan Qashqai on the M6 as he tried to get to Ayre in Scotland. The 37 year old was sentenced to six years and three months as details of his crimes were revealed to the court. The sentencing judge was told Rogers used a bin in Norton as a storage facility for drugs as well as other 'rural' locations around his home city of Stoke on Trent.
He also stashed drugs in a stolen vehicle on cloned plates and his own vehicle, which he kept parked away from his home. Police carried out surveillance and once officers had gathered enough evidence, they swooped on the bin on October 25 last year and 15 to 20 snap bags containing amphetamine were recovered. Traffic officers from Cheshire targetted Rogers who had fled to a caravan in Wales, before they stopped him on the motorway, heading to Scotland, Stoke on Trent Live reports. A quantity of cocaine and amphetamines was also recovered from other locations. Rogers, of no fixed address, was charged and later pleaded guilty to possession of a class A drug with intent to supply and possession of a class B drug with intent to supply. A force spokesman said: "Officers believe he would have fled abroad if he had not been detained.".
Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard Rogers had previously been jailed for 18 months in 2010 for possession with intent to supply heroin and he received an eight-and-a-half year jail sentence in 2019 for two charges of possession of a class A drug with intent to supply and one charge of possession of a class B drug with intent to supply. A Proceeds of Crime hearing is due to take place in April this year.
Speaking after the case, Chief Superintendent, Nicki Addison, said: “I am pleased Rogers admitted his guilt and has been handed a custodial sentence for his offending which had a significant impact on the supply of drugs across the county. We continue to do all we can to tackle those causing harm in our communities including disrupting criminal gangs and seizing their unlawful property.”. Get email updates with the day's biggest stories.
