Two men jailed for £150,000 drugs conspiracy across Nottinghamshire

The vehicle smelt strongly of cannabis so officers carried out a search of the car and driver Aaron Higgins, and recovered £18,000 of cocaine, as well as three mobile phones and a small amount of cannabis.

This then led to further searches of a number of properties which linked 32-year-old Higgins and 33-year-old David Lawson to a conspiracy to supply a total of £150,000 of cocaine, heroin, MDMA and cannabis on a national level.

The initial vehicle stop happened in the car park of the Tesco Extra, Top Valley Drive, at around 4pm on January 14, 2019, for an unrelated matter.

The properties searched included Higgins' home in Sweeney Court, Bestwood, and Lawson's home in Calver Close, Wollaton.

In total £150,000 of drugs were seized.

Digital analysis of all of the phones recovered during the investigation revealed evidence of drug dealing and communication between the two men, including a photo of compressed white power on scales.

Both men pleaded guilty at Nottingham Crown Court to five charges of conspiracy to supply Class A and B drugs between February 1, 2018 and February 16, 2019.

They were sentenced to a combined total of more than 11 years in prison on Thursday 13 August.

Lawson will serve six years and nine months, Higgins will serve four years and four months.

Detective Chief Inspector Richard Bull, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: "This was a complex investigation with different departments across the force working together to unpick a major drugs conspiracy.

"Drugs on this scale invariably lead to further criminality including violence and acquisitive crime so to seize this quantity of drugs and secure the convictions of Higgins and Lawson is an excellent result for Nottinghamshire Police."

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