Mark Richard Bowden and Ian Charles McLean were stopped by North Yorkshire Police’s Roads Crime Team on the A59 between Bolton Abbey and Harrogate in September 2013.
Officers searched the blue Ford Ka they were travelling in and found a stash of heroin in a rucksack in the boot, with a street value of £250,000.
Both men pleaded guilty to possession of Class A drugs with intent to supply when they appeared before York Crown Court on 16 January 2014.
Bowden, aged 39, of Stonefall Avenue, Harrogate, was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment.
McLean, aged 48, of Regent Grove, Harrogate, will be sentenced at a date which has yet to be fixed after his case was adjourned for medical reports.
Detective Sergeant Steve Menzies, of Harrogate CID, whose team investigated the case, said:
Heroin is a devastating drug both in the misery it causes to those who use it and in the highly detrimental impact it has on our communities through crime.
I am pleased with the result at court and custodial sentence imposed on Mark Bowden. The people of North Yorkshire can rest assured that we will continue to target those who pedal drugs for profit and who neither think or care about the destruction it causes.
We need the help of our communities in our combined fight against drug supply in the form of information provided by local people. Please contact the police or Crimestoppers if you know of anyone who is involved in the supply of drugs in your neighbourhood.
Anyone with any information about drugs supply in their area can contact North Yorkshire Police on 101 – select option 1 – and pass information to the Force Control Room.
If you prefer not to give your name, Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously on 0800 555 111.
