THE ‘important foot soldier’ in a plot to bring £720,000 of import-purity cocaine to Bradford from Liverpool has been jailed for three years and nine months.

David Smith, 32, was described by the judge sentencing him at Bradford Crown Court as being part of the team involved in swapping £140,000 in cash as part-payment for nine kilos of cocaine.

The drugs were seized by the police from the boot of a Volkswagen Golf on the M606 on September 6, 2019, prosecutor Tom Storey said.

Smith, of Aberford Road, Girlington, Bradford, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine.

The court heard that he had denied the offence and the jury was unable to decide on a verdict in an earlier trial. When his case was relisted in September this year, he admitted the conspiracy.

In March last year, the Telegraph & Argus reported that six people had been jailed for 35 years for their roles in the cocaine plot.

Today, Mr Storey said the Golf transporting the cocaine, of 92-97 per cent purity, had three women in it when it was stopped just after 9pm on its way to a BD8 postcode in Bradford.

Smith had bought two large holdalls from a sports shop in Bradford, one of which was used to carry the £140,000 in cash.

He also booked a flight from Manchester to Dubai for a man higher up the chain after the plot was foiled.

He was arrested in October, 2019, and denied any involvement in the conspiracy.

Smith’s barrister, Chloe Fairley, said he had ‘a very limited and irrelevant antecedent history.’

He was a heavy cannabis user at the time and obtaining cheaper drugs as a reward for his role in the plot.

Smith wasn’t leading the lifestyle of a man high up a drugs supply chain. He had no management function and no influence on those above him.

He had stayed out of trouble since and was a great help and support to his partner and his mother who had both written letters in support of him.

Miss Fairley said Smith had completely changed his life since and was looking for work, although that was made difficult by having the case hanging over him.

Judge Andrew Hatton told Smith he was part of the drugs conspiracy team.

“You were a foot soldier, albeit an important one,” he said.

He did as he was told, collecting bags, driving people around and relaying information by phone.

Judge Hatton said that although the references were from those close to Smith, he accepted that they genuinely had reason to speak highly of him.

He ordered that the nine kilos of cocaine be forfeited and destroyed.

Want to keep up with all the latest court and crime news? Join our Bradford Crime & Breaking News Facebook group

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to keep up with all the latest news.

Have you got a story for us? Email newsdesk@telegraphandargus.co.uk or contact us here, or call us on 01274 705292.