‘Bingo!’ Drug dealer jailed after police officer finds 9kg of cocaine in boot of her car

Officers found nine blocks of cocaine, weighing more than 9kg, hidden in an open cardboard box when they stopped Lawrence’s brown Mitsubishi ASX at Norton Canes services.

The arrest came after Staffordshire Police acted on information received and pulled over Lawrence’s vehicle on October 8 last year.

Linda Lawrence appeared at Stafford Crown Court

PA/West Midlands Police

During the vehicle search, officers discovered two mobile phones, Lawrence’s passport, and brown parcel tape alongside the cocaine.

They also found plastic disposable gloves, pieces of paper with phone numbers, hotel receipts and £140 in cash in the vehicle.

A subsequent search of Lawrence’s home revealed suspicious financial activity. Bank statements showed payments of several hundreds of pounds had been deposited into her account at random intervals over at least a year.

Lawrence’s arrest formed part of Operation Target, an ongoing mission by West Midlands Police to tackle serious and organised crime in the region.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

• ‘Stubborn’ OAP pointed loaded revolver at ‘terrified’ neighbour amid row over shared land
• Vile gang used dating app Grindr to lure in victims then rob them
• ‘Absolute outrage!’ Birmingham bin workers strike for second time over planned pay cut

The drugs seized from her car at the Staffordshire services

West Midlands Police

Bodycam footage captured the dramatic moment officers searched Lawrence’s vehicle at the motorway services.

An officer can be seen discovering the open box in the boot, shouting “bingo” before counting nine vacuum-sealed packets of cocaine stacked inside. The footage then shows officers approaching Lawrence, who was seated in her car.

“At this moment in time, you are under arrest for possession with intent to supply a controlled substance of Class A,” the officer told her.

DC Liam O’Brien, from the Regional Organised Crime Unit for the West Midlands, said: “We believe Lawrence was being paid by others to transport these drugs around the country, and investigations into the wider drugs network continue.”

“This was a really significant seizure of Class A drugs – drugs which would have gone on to cause untold misery on the streets of the UK,” DC O’Brien added.

“We work across the region to disrupt and arrest those involved in the supply and sale of drugs.”