Drugs seizure: ‘no doubt of conspiracy’

POLICE armed with search warrants seized “unusually pure” cocaine worth up to £66,000 at raids on two Oldham addresses.

The bulk of the drugs were found in a metal safe at one of the homes last July, and were up to 93 cent pure, Manchester Crown Court heard.

At the second address polce found wraps of cocaine inside a metal box hidden inside a TV set.

Gary Woodhall, prosecuting, told a trial jury the drugs were the property of four Oldham drug dealers.

Barry McLaren (49), who pleads not guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, was a vital lynchpin in the business, the jury heard. Mr Woodhall said there was no doubt the conspiracy had existed as the other three men had already pleaded guilty.

He claimed there was clear evidence that McLaren, of Marshall Court, Oldham, had been a central figure in the operation, and the point of contact between alleged ringleader Mohammed Ali Tubsaum (35), and the two “store men” involved, Andrew Winterbottom (50), and Philip Brooker (44).

The jury was told McLaren’s fingerprints had been found on a packet containing unused snap-top bags at WInterbottom’s home in Brennan Court, Oldham.

Mobile phone records showed no direct contact between the other three, but McLaren was the central player in touch with all three separately.

McLaren, Winterbottom and Brooker have been convicted of conspiracy to supply cannabis and will be sentenced at the end of the trial.

Mr Woodhall told the jury: “It makes it frankly inconceivable that McLaren wouldn’t be involved in this conspiracy. It was a one stop shop for drug users.”

The jury heard police officers watched the four men and there was regular contact between McLaren and Tubsaum.

(Proceeding)