A483 drugs courier jailed after £25,000 haul near Wrexham

A man who agreed to deliver packages of heroin and crack cocaine for £300 has been sent to prison for two years and four months.

Paul Peckham, 33, of Harrop’s Croft, Netherton, Sefton, was sentenced at Caernarfon Crown Court on Monday 9 November. He had admitted possession with intent to supply both drugs and took part in the hearing by videolink from prison.

The stop

Police pulled Peckham over at around 9.15pm on 7 July 2026 as he drove south along the A483 dual carriageway near Rossett, Wrexham. Prosecutor Ryan Rothwell told the court Peckham was at the wheel and nobody else was in the car.

What officers found

Officers searching the vehicle discovered a brown envelope holding brown and white powders, and Peckham was arrested. Testing later showed the envelope’s contents to be:

• 248g of heroin, with a street value of between £12,550 and £15,000
• Just under 248g of crack cocaine, with a street value of between £10,000 and £12,000

The drugs were estimated to be worth around £25,000 in total. Mr Rothwell said they would have been worth more if they had been cut further.

A follow-up search of Peckham’s home turned up the following items in his bedroom:

• Two snap bags containing white powder
• Other drug-related paraphernalia

How he came to carry the drugs

The court heard the packages had reached Peckham through people who were not named, who were “preying on his vulnerability”. They had agreed to pay him £300 to take the packages to an address. He had not opened them but suspected they held drugs, and he was acting “as a courier”.

Peckham had one previous conviction, for an unrelated offence in 2016.

Defence arguments

Christopher Clark, defending, told the court his client had mental health problems and had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Reports had also pointed to “a highly vulnerable person, susceptible to exploitation”, he said.

Mr Clark explained that Peckham had run up a gambling debt and agreed to act as a courier for a small sum.

Sentencing

Judge Timothy Petts noted that Peckham had been caught by police on the A483 in July carrying heroin and crack cocaine worth around £25,000 in bulk, “with potential for sub-dividing for onward dealers and a lot more money being made”.

The judge jailed Peckham for two years and four months. He will serve part of that term in custody and the remainder on licence.

Peckham must also pay the statutory surcharge. The judge made an order for the seized drugs and paraphernalia to be forfeited and destroyed.