Drug dealer jailed after hiding heroin between his buttocks

Jason Cockburn, 49, was jailed for five years at the High Court in Glasgow on Friday.

Drug dealer jailed after hiding heroin between his buttocks iStock

A convicted drug dealer caught with heroin hidden between his buttocks has been jailed for five years.

Jason Cockburn had been taken to a police station when officers initially detected a stench of cannabis coming from his car last December 3 on the A76 Dumfries to Kilmarnock road.

The 49-year-old was searched there and small plastic packages that he had stashed were found.

Cockburn told police: “It is heroin, but I do not know how much it is.”

Prosecutor Victoria Dow told the High Court in Glasgow the hidden haul was valued at £600.

Ms Dow said his home in Kelloholm in Dumfries and Galloway was also searched and more than £500 of cash as well as drug-related items were seized.

On Friday, Cockburn admitted being concerned in the supply of heroin.

His lawyer, Billy Lavelle, told the hearing: “He is a long-standing drug user and has been since he was 15.

“He normally lives in a council house, he does not have a partner and does not appear to have much else in his life other than drugs.”

Cockburn already had a number of class A drug trafficking convictions, including a high court jail term in 2005.

He faced a mandatory seven-year stint back behind bars as a result.

However, Lady Stacey said she had been persuaded by Mr Lavelle not to do so and instead jailed Cockburn for five years.

Cockburn faces a further hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act next February.

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