'Courier' for organised crime group jailed after Birch Services arrest revealed 2kg of heroin hidden in car

Police recovered 2kg of heroin

A courier for an organised crime group has been jailed for four years after he was arrested at Birch Services last year for carrying two kilos of heroin, hidden in his car.

William Ballantyne, 51, of Lanarkshire, was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court on Friday 12 February 2021 to four years and three months imprisonment after pleading guilty to possession with intent to supply class A drugs.

The prosecution told the court that, on Friday 28 February 2020, Ballantyne was arrested at Birch Services.

A search of the vehicle that he was driving resulted in the recovery of two kilograms of heroin from a carrier bag in a secret compartment in the floor as well as an encrypted mobile telephone.

Detective Inspector Roger Smethurst, of GMP's Serious and Organised Crime Group, said: "Ballantyne was a courier for an organised crime group. At the time of his arrest, he was on his way to Scotland.

"Heroin blights individuals' lives as well as communities so GMP and police forces across the UK are committed to disturbing the supply.

"I would like to use this opportunity to say that investigations into the supply of drugs rely heavily on intelligence and ask anyone with information to share it with police or Crimestoppers, anonymously."

Anyone with information about the supply of drugs should contact police or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.