A man caught with cocaine worth up to £32,200 in his car told police he was offered £350 to transport it to the Buckie area.
After receiving a tip-off police officers stopped Ross Bree on the A98 and recovered 258 grams of cocaine from a rucksack in the footwell.
When interviewed he told police he had agreed to transport the drugs in return for the payment but had not known what the Class A drugs were worth.
Bree, 31, appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court to admit a single charge of being concerned in the supply of cocaine.
Fiscal depute Susan Love said that Bree was pulled over by officers near to the Oran junction at 10.15pm on Wednesday April 20 last year.
She said: “On the basis of intelligence received he was lawfully stopped by officers.”
Man told officers about illicit cargo
The court heard that after being detained under the Misuse of Drugs Act Bree told officers about his illicit cargo.
Ms Love said: “He stated voluntarily to the officer that there was ‘coke’ in the car and officers recovered a zip lock bag containing 258g of cocaine from a rucksack found in the footwell.”
Bree was then taken to a police station, where he was cautioned and interviewed, leading him to reveal he had offered a payment of £350 to move the drugs.
“He advised that he had been struggling for money because he was unemployed and had agreed to transport cocaine to the Buckie area in return for £350,” she said.
“He told police he was not aware of the value of the drugs he was transporting.”
Cocaine worth up to five-figure sum
The court heard that police advised that the cocaine recovered was worth £7,500 to £10,000 if sold whole, but had the potential to realise between £25,760 and £32,200 if sold in gram deals.
Solicitor Jane Caird, for Bree, told the court her client had a limited record consisting only of two road traffic matters.
Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald called for reports and deferred sentencing of Bree, of St Ninian Terrace, Dundee, until April.
