A DRUGS courier has been jailed after police found around £700,000 worth of cocaine in his van while he attempted to hide in plain sight as a delivery driver.

Mark Buchanan, 42, was arrested on September 23 on the M5 near Birmingham.

The court heard that Buchanan was a Liverpool-based member of an organised crime gang which supplied drugs in Wales and the south west of England.

South Wales Argus: Police found seven kilograms of cocaine in the van.Police found seven kilograms of cocaine in the van. (Image: South Wales Police)

Tarian, the southern Wales regional organised crime unit, had previously identified Buchanan as entering South Wales, and targeted him on his next journey towards the region with the support of West Mercia Police.

Buchanan was wearing a delivery company uniform to attempt to avoid detection, but having stopped him and searched the vehicle, officers discovered seven kilograms of cocaine in a front passenger seat bulkhead.

The van had been adapted hide drugs in the rear floor, police found.

South Wales Argus: The rear of the van had been modified to store drugs under the floor.The rear of the van had been modified to store drugs under the floor. (Image: South Wales Police)

Officers found messages on an encrypted app on Buchanan’s phone which showed he made several other deliveries.

He was jailed for 16 years.

The arrest and conviction was part of the wider Operation Bismuth, a proactive Automatic Number Plate Recognition operation led by the Regional Disruption Team in Tarian.

Detective sergeant Mark Burge said: “The team’s relentless pursuit of OCGs across the UK supplying drugs into southern Wales has resulted in a significant custodial sentence for Buchanan and demonstrates the benefit of Tarian’s Op Bismuth in keeping our communities safe.”