A MAN accused of being involved in a £1.3m drugs conspiracy was caught “red handed” by a police bugging operation, a jury was told.

Shorne Ross, 42, went on trial at Oxford Crown Court yesterday accused of being part of a conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine.

Ross, of Mumford Drive, Rothersthorpe, Northampton, denies the offences.

Prosecutor Michael Roques said he was one of five men arrested on March 10 as part of Thames Valley Police’s Operation Strix.

Officers took him into custody when they stopped a van carrying 13kg of cocaine and 2kg of heroin on the M40 near High Wycombe.

Opening the case he told the jury the van was bound for an address in Oxford where the drugs would be cut and processed. He said: “The prosecution asserts that this defendant, Mr Ross, was involved with these events.

“The allegation is that he conspired with a number of others, and these co-conspirators have pleaded guilty.”

Mr Roques said the “key target” of the operation was 31-year-old Martin Gray, of Randolph Avenue, Woodstock, who admitted being part of the drugs conspiracy.

The barrister said his “right hand man” David Bowen, 42, of Mumford Drive, Rothersthope, Northampton, and 35-year-old Yemi Aiyegbusi of Walton Street, Oxford, have also pleaded guilty to the same offence.

Lorry driver and Dutch national Razaki Hakan, 41, has admitted importing the drugs, he added.

Mr Roques added that a further 2kg of cocaine and 5kg of heroin were found when the men’s addresses were searched, bringing the wholesale value of the drugs in the case to £1.3m.

The trial continues.

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