Panic-stricken drugs courier dumps big stash of cannabis in Harborough district village while being chased by police

A panic-stricken drugs courier being chased by police dumped a big stash of cannabis with a street value of over £200,000 in a Harborough district village.

Stavros Tsigkos, 30, piled up about 11lbs (5kgs) of cannabis and 202 plants on a quiet country lane in Misterton, near Lutterworth.

And he might have got away with it if he hadn’t been spotted by an alert passer-by who tipped off police.

Tsigkos was being pursued by police on the southbound carriageway of the M1 in Leicestershire because they suspected he had no insurance, Leicester Crown Court heard.

He tried to evade officers by suddenly pulling off the motorway at junction 20 near Lutterworth at 10.30am on Tuesday July 27, 2021 in his grey Audi TT sports car.

Micaila Williams, prosecuting, said a woman walker saw the Audi "travelling at speed" along Chapel Lane in Misterton.

The eye-witness saw Tsigkos jump out and take a large cardboard box and two bin bags from his boot before hurling them on to the grass verge.

The passer-by said that a significant quantity of cannabis and plants were left scattered about in the countryside.

Tsigkos was stopped later by police after resuming his journey, the court was told.

But it turned out that the Audi was insured and Tsigkos was "processed" and allowed to continue.

Miss Williams said other officers went to Misterton after the drugs alarm was raised.

They seized bags of cannabis flowering tops with a street value of £62,500 along with 202 juvenile plants - capable of producing a crop worth £141,000.

But it was almost another five months before police finally got to the bottom of the strange drama.

West Yorkshire Police went to Tsigkos’s house in Christopher Road, Woodhouse, Leeds, on Thursday December 16 to quiz him about the incident, the court heard.

Officers seized 4.4lbs (2kgs) of vacuum-packed cannabis worth £25,000 from his home.

Tsigkos told police the drugs were for "his own use”.

But he admitted dumping the cannabis haul in Misterton last July to avoid being caught with it.

Tsigkos insisted he had been "under pressure" to ferry the boot full of cannabis last July, the court heard.

He pleaded guilty to possessing cannabis with intent to supply – both in July and December.

Paul Prior, defending, said Tsigkos was lawfully living in the UK and had no previous convictions.

Mr Prior said he used to work in the building and design industries but lost his job amid the Covid pandemic.

"He was naive and it may be the fact he used cannabis himself that he was eased into this offending.

"On the face of it, it looked like easy money and easy employment.

“But there was no extravagant lifestyle and the Audi he was driving is 14 years old,” said Mr Prior.

"He's been on remand in custody since December and it has taught him a valuable lesson."

Judge Timothy Spencer, QC, told Tsigkos as he jailed him for 13 months: "This is a shameful day.

“Your family is in the public gallery and there's your mother looking at you in the dock of a crown court.

"These were significant quantities of cannabis, destined for onward supply on a wholesale level - not street dealing,” said Judge Spencer.

"That was why you got out of the way of the police officer and dumped wholesale cannabis around trees and bushes, that I've seen in photographs.