A routine vehicle stop for suspected speeding led to the discovery of a cannabis cultivation and the jailing of a drug dealer.
Kent Police officers on patrol in Folkestone stopped a Jaguar X-Type in January 2021 and found the driver Nicholas Moulder in possession of more than £5,000 in cash.
This led to officers from Dyfed-Powys Police carrying out a warrant at a property in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire which uncovered a cannabis cultivation.
Moulder was charged with and later admitted being concerned in the production and supply of cannabis and two counts of possession of criminal property, relating to £5,500 cash.
The 49-year-old from Haverfordwest, was jailed for two and a half years at Canterbury Crown Court on Thursday 18 March 2021.
Moulder was suspected of speeding in Cheriton High Street at 4.40am on Monday 18 January 2021 and was stopped nearby by a local patrol.
Officers smelled cannabis in the car and, when it was searched, a suitcase containing £5,000 was found. Moulder also had £500 and cannabis in his possession.
He was arrested and officers from Dyfed-Powys Police later carried out a warrant at his home in Wales.
They found three tents containing hydroponic equipment, twenty-six cannabis plants and more than eight hundred grams of cannabis.
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A routine car stop and the professional curiosity of the officers involved has led to the seizure of a large amount of criminal cash and the shutting down of this cannabis cultivation site.
The efficient investigation carried out by both police forces left Moulder with no choice but to admit these offences and the seizure of this cash shows that crime doesn’t pay.
Detective Inspector Nigel Douglas, of Folkestone’s Criminal Investigation Department