A drugs squad surveillance operation led to the se

A drugs squad surveillance operation led to the seizure of
pnds stlg 403,000 worth of cannabis, a court heard today
Tuesday.

The two men arrested in connection with the huge haul
are now awaiting sentence.

Between now and the time they return to court to hear
their fate in January, police will be carrying out detailed
investigations into their assets.

Any cash, goods or other wealth proved to be gained
from drug dealing will be seized by the court.

Farmer Richard Marshall-Price, 37, of Boswoedneck Farm,
Zennor, nr.

St Ives, Cornwall, and jobless Keith Rainbird,
47, of Wynell Road, Forest Hill, SE23, both today admitted
possession of the drug with intent to supply it to others.

Prosecuting counsel Mr Mark Tomassi told Inner London Crown
Court how drugs squad officers had kept observation on
Rainbird’s address on the night of July 27 and 28 this year
and spotted Marshall-Price arrive in his Renault Espace car.

A little while later he left the address and was
tailed to Brixton, South London, where he was seen
to unload what appeared to be a pillow case.

When he drove off again towards the West Country he was
shadowed by under cover detectives, said counsel.

Eventually the married father of two was stopped between
junctions 3 and 4 on the M4 motorway by police in a marked
Land Rover.

When the officers found 25kg of cannabis in his car
he ran off in a panic – and landed up to his stomach
in mud in a motorway drainage ditch.

The officers had to haul him to safety.

Meanwhile, in London, detectives were swooping on
bachelor Rainbird’s home and recovered 70kg of the drug
in the loft space.

When interviewed, both men exercised their right to
silence.

Both men were remanded in custody for six weeks while
the inquiry under the Drugs Trafficking Act takes place.

Marshall-Price’s plea of guilty was on the basis
of the cannabis found in his car while Rainbird’s
was in relation both to the haul found at his home and that
found in Marshall-Price’s car.

ENDS