Father-of-eight Roger Turner was jailed for seven years for drug dealing today after the largest ever haul of ecstasy tablets in the West Mercia Police area was found in Lilleshall.
Drug squad officers who raided a farm there found 23,000 tablets with a street value of £68,000, Shrewsbury Crown Court heard.
Recorder Barry Berlin said Turner, 43, had been renting a barn and caravan there as a warehouse and distribution centre for the potentially deadly drug.
“Ecstasy has dangerous side effects which could ca-use and have caused death in many cases,” he said.
The judge told Turner: “You were part of a distribution chain and must have been very close to the people who were importing.”
Turner, of East Avenue, Donnington, admitted two charges of possessing ecstasy and one of possessing cocaine, all with intent to supply. He admitted four further charges of possessing ecstasy, amphetamines, cocaine and cannabis.
Mr Max Bennett, prosecuting, said Turner had claimed the barn and land he was renting was for storing off-road vehicles.
Police, acting on information received, kept the farm under observation and raided the property last August.
Mr James Dunstan, for Turner, said his arrest had devastated his family.
He said Turner had lost his home in 2005 as a result of the anti-social behaviour of two of his sons and had started using cocaine and cannabis to medicate himself while having to sleep in his car.
He had built up drug debts and got involved in dealing to help pay off the bill. Mr Dunstan said since the raid, one of Turner’s sons had been approached in threatening fashion by someone who said he hoped Turner was not a “grass”.
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