A MAN working as a drugs courier was caught with high purity cocaine worth £100,000 after police stopped him on the M4 motorway.

Edwin Hart, 41, had just crossed the Prince of Wales Bridge and was on his way to his home city of Newport after a trip to London to pick up the drugs.

Police got a tip-off that the defendant was in a white Peugeot and they pulled him over near Junction 23 at Magor last September.

MORE NEWS: Family pay tribute to ‘gentle’ dad after ‘cruel’ murderer jailed for 20 years

Hart’s partner had been driving the vehicle and he was a passenger in the front seat.

South Wales Argus:

Edwin Hart

Ffion Tomos, prosecuting, said: “Both appeared to be under the influence of substances.

“Police found a package in the footwell.

“The package was 1kg of cocaine of a very high purity – 84% – with a potential street value of between £80,000 and £100,000.”

Hart pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to supply on the basis he had thought the drug he was caught with was amphetamine.

He had accepted to take the job on for just £300, Newport Crown Court was told.

The defendant had 45 previous convictions for 111 offences which included drug trafficking.

He was jailed for 15 months in 2020 for assault and criminal damage.

Ben Waters, representing Hart, said his client had been grieving the loss of his mother, uncle and friend and had money worries.

“He was down on his luck and someone offered him some work,” his barrister added.

“His job was as a courier from A to B.

“The defendant bitterly regrets involving himself in this type of enterprise.”

The judge, Recorder Sean Bradley, told Hart: “You are a man with extensive previous convictions and that is a significant factor in my sentencing.

“You were transporting drugs back from London and were paid £300 for that with £100 petrol money.”

Hart, of Magor Street, was jailed for three years and four months and told he would serve half of that sentence in custody before being released on licence.

The court ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the cocaine.