A FLACKWELL Heath man has been found guilty of possessing £1million worth of cocaine with intent to supply.

Gary Crawford said he had “no idea” the drugs were in a friend's car when he was arrested at a Cheshire service station on July 25 last year.

But jurors at Chester Crown Court did not believe the 53-year-old Links Road resident's story and found him guilty of possessing class A drugs with intent to supply and possessing criminal property on Friday.

Lewis Jones, prosecuting, told the court Crawford was “caught red handed” at the Tabley Service Station near Knutsford when he and George Chettle of Battersea met with Manchester resident Philip Dodd.

He said: “Cocaine was in bags and in a holdall which was in a further bag in the boot of the car Mr Crawford was in.

“The value of the cocaine was enormous. Even on a street level we’re talking £1million.”

Dodd, 52, and 24-year-old Chettle pleaded guilty to the offences at an earlier hearing.

But Crawford told the court he was at the service area to discuss a charity project with Chettle. He said he had never seen Dodd before.

Police found 19,038 grams of cocaine in Chettle's silver Ford Mondeo – and a later search of Crawford's home turned up £73,145 in cash.

He told the court the money was from his previous job as a property broker in South Africa when he was paid in lump sums of cash.

Speaking of the moment he was arrested, Crawford told jurors: “I didn’t have a care in the world. The next thing I see is a Volvo and then another screaming behind and then officers saying: ‘Stop, stop, stand still’.

“They had stab vests and guns. Seeing this on a Saturday morning in Cheshire, I didn’t know what was happening.

“It was surreal. I couldn’t believe I’d woken up that morning. I had a surge of adrenaline.

“It was animal instinct and then I collapsed.”

The three men will be sentenced in three weeks' time.