Two drug dealers found with £25,000 in a shoebox in Thanet are jailed

Two drug dealers who were found with a large amount of cocaine and £25,000 in cash have been jailed for a total of more than 11 years.

James Hammacott and Sam Marshall were in a Mercedes van in February, which Kent Police suspected was linked to drug dealing.

Officers stopped the vehicle as it was travelling on the A299 Thanet Way near St Nicholas-at-Wade and carried out a search.

Inside they found two packages of cocaine, each weighing more than a kilogram and a shoebox containing more than £25,000 in cash.

Both men were arrested and later charged by detectives from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate.

They each later admitted possession of class A drugs with intent to supply and possession of criminal property.

At Canterbury Crown Court on 20 July, Marshall, 32, of Almodington, West Sussex, was jailed for six years and one month. Hammacott, 22, of no fixed abode, was given a five-year, nine-month sentence at the same hearing.

Detective Sergeant Jon Saxby from Kent Police's Serious Crime Directorate, said: "Kent Police will not tolerate criminals coming into the county to deal drugs which lead to further crime and anti-social behaviour.

"The quick stop of this vehicle, the subsequent charges and jail terms now imposed are all part of our ongoing work to bring drug dealers to justice and take class A drugs off the streets of Kent."

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