A butcher from Malaga googled ways of concealing drugs in cars and the sentencing length of drugs cases in Jersey just weeks before he was arrested for importing around £350,000 worth of drugs into the island.
Tony Spencer was jailed for three years and nine months this week.
The 49-year-old arrived off the ferry from St Malo on 10 April last year with nine kilos of cannabis and 290 grams of cocaine hidden in his car, the Royal Court heard.
He told customs officers that he owned a butcher’s shop just outside Malaga, but was looking to relocate to Jersey.
Spencer stated that he was looking to “wrap up” his business in Malaga and run a butcher shop in Jersey instead.
He claimed that he was going to be staying in St Brelade with a man he named only as “Johnny”.
Officers searched Spencer’s vehicle and found a commercial vacuum heat-sealing machine of the kind used by butchers.
Inside it was cocaine and nine kilos of cannabis in 100 gram bars.
The maximum street value of the cannabis was estimated at £279,000, while the cocaine could have fetched up to £71,000.
During police interview, Spencer told the officers that he had travelled to Jersey to have a meeting about leasing a butcher’s shop on a local farm.
Officers spoke to a representative of the shop who confirmed that Spencer had been in touch about the lease, but they had responded that they were hoping to lease the whole unit and not just the butcher’s.
There was further brief contact, but no arrangements were made for a visit or further discussions.
Two mobile phones were also seized from Spencer as police carried out further investigations.
One of the phones showed several internet searches in the weeks leading up to his arrest related to “drug importations into Jersey”, “drug importers sentencing in Jersey”, “States of Jersey Police drug arrests”, and “ways to conceal drugs inside vehicles”.
Spencer admitted placing the heat-sealing machine in his car but would not comment further, and at first pleaded not guilty to the illegal importation of drugs. But a month later he changed his plea to guilty.
Following his sentencing by the Superior Number, senior manager Paul Le Monnier said: “The sentence reflects the seriousness of this attempted importation.
“It also shows the high level of skill and vigilance our officers have in detecting commercial quantities of controlled drugs and dealing with those responsible.”
Commissioner Sir Michael Birt was presiding with Jurats Dulake, Austin-Vautier, Opfermann, Berry and Ramsden sitting.
