A MAN accused of being involved in a £1.3m drugs conspiracy told police he did not know he was helping transport cocaine and heroin.

Shorne Ross is on trial at Oxford Crown Court and denies being part of a conspiracy to supply Class-A drugs on March 10 this year.

Michael Roques, prosecuting, said the 42-year-old was one of five men arrested as part of Thames Valley Police’s Operation Strix, which targeted a group importing drugs into the UK.

He said Ross, of Mumford Drive, Rothersthope, Northampton, was arrested after a Fiat Doblo van, which he hired and drove, was stopped on the M40 near High Wycombe.

He said it was found to be carrying 13kg of cocaine and 2kg of heroin, with a wholesale value of about £1.3m. He added that its passenger was group member David Bowen, who has now admitted being part of the drugs conspiracy.

Yesterday the jury was played a police interview with Ross on the day after he was arrested, in which he was asked what he thought he was transporting.

Ross said: “(Bowen) said he was living in Holland for a while, and he can get a lot of cigarettes and things. So I thought it was like cigarettes. There was a time when I thought it could be drugs, but I didn’t see what [it was], I didn’t see.

“All I saw was him with his bag on the shoulder and putting it in the van and saying ‘job done’.”

The trial continues.

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