A haul of cannabis worth more than £100,000 was intercepted by police on the north’s busiest road.
Inverness Sheriff Court heard yesterday that an intelligence-led operation resulted in the capture 44-year-old Dariusz Mroczkowski, who was driving the drugs to the Highland capital.
Mroczkowski admitted being concerned in the supply of the Class B drug with a street value of £112,700 on the A9 at Nuide near Newtonmore on April 13.
His lawyer, Neil Wilson asked that bail be continued while his client awaited sentence on December 23, with a background report being prepared.
But Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood remanded Mroczkowski, of Cranmore Drive in the Smithton area, in custody.
He said: “Owing to the amount of drugs involved, I can see little alternative to a custodial sentence and I am not prepared to take the chance of him not attending the next time.”
Fiscal depute Michelle Molley said two constables within a marked car saw a vehicle which they believed to contain drugs and instructed it to stop.
“The vehicle was searched, emptied and removal of the floor coverings revealed three concealed compartments,” he said.
“Recovered were 12 packets of herbal substance weighing 6.7kgs, £145 in cash, two satellite navigation systems and two mobile telephones were also recovered during the search.
“Mroczkowski told police ‘I wanted to make some money and someone gave me a packet with grass to deliver somewhere. I borrowed the car’.”
The court heard that at 6.47pm on the same date the accused was shown the recovered items and he stated “I am shocked. I collected from someone the packet of grass. The man said don’t worry about it everything will be paid. Someone was supposed to collect it in the pack.”
He added that he borrowed the vehicle and travelled south to an unknown location and collected a parcel from a male to deliver same to Inverness for payment of £1,000.
“The wholesale value of the controlled drugs recovered was £40,000 and when sold in the common street deals of 1.5g for £25, the maximum street value was £112,700.” Ms Molley said.
