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Drugs gang face long jail terms after cocaine worth £272k found in boot

Three drug dealers from Staffordshire caught in an undercover operation which saw £272,000 worth of cocaine seized in the boot of a car are facing 'substantial' jail terms.

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The trio, including two brothers, were followed for almost a month by police, who watched their homes, followed their cars and compiled records of phone conversations.

Brothers Andrew and Michael Pettit along with their friend Kevin Marsden were convicted of conspiracy to supply cocaine following a two week trial at Stafford Crown Court.

Officers closed the net on the trio when they tailed Marsden's BMW to Liverpool before stopping him on the way back to Staffordshire in May 2013.

In the boot of the BMW was a bag containing cocaine with a street value of £272,000.

A further £60,000 worth of the drug was later found in his locker at a meat wholesalers in Stoke on Trent where he was working.

Mr Kevin Grego, prosecuting, said they were a 'small, organised criminal group'.

Jurors were out for nearly three days before finding Marsden, 46, of Poplar Close, Stone; Andrew Pettit, 45, of Izaak Walton Street, Stafford and Michael Pettit, aged 44, of Weston Road, Stafford, guilty.

A fourth man Paul Cooper, 30, of Greyfriars Court, Stafford, pleaded guilty and will be sentenced alongside the others on September 4.

Judge Michael Chambers QC said they were likely to face 'substantial periods of imprisonment' and remanded the brothers and Marsden in custody.

The jury heard the police surveillance started in April 2013 when Cooper was arrested. Officers were tailing Marsden's BMW, which stopped in Greyfriars and Cooper got out.

He was arrested as he walked away, dropping a package and a mobile phone on a doorstep. The package contained £7,360 worth of cocaine and Marsden's fingerprints were on it.

Although Cooper was arrested, Marsden was left free so officers could observe his activities during May. His BMW was parked outside Andrew Pettit's home with Marsden seen receiving a roll of money from a man in Tenterbanks, Stafford.

The prosecution said Andrew Pettit made phone calls to numbers in Liverpool - setting up the deal for the collection of the cocaine.

Marsden was seen leaving his address with a carrier bag and his BMW was followed up to Liverpool to meet up with a black Fiesta.

Just after 10pm, the BMW with Marsden behind the wheel, was stopped by police heading south to Stafford on the M6. In the boot was a bag containing one kilo of high-purity cocaine with an estimated street value of £272,000.

Both brothers denied any involvement in the cocaine plot, but Marsden claimed he had been forced in to selling the drug by a gang from London who had threatened to kill his family.

The court heard that Cooper had pleaded guilty on the basis of conspiring with Marsden to supply smaller quantities of cocaine.

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