Drug courier caught with £35k of cocaine after getaway crash

A DRUGS courier was caught with £35,000 worth of cocaine after trying to escape and crashing his car.

Mario Houston, 28, was spotted collecting a suspicious package from a van by undercover police acting on a tip-off.

Police swooped as he got back into his car with the drugs, but Houston drove off at speed while one officer was trying to pull the key out of his ignition.

He tried to get away by driving up a kerb and along a pavement, but smashed his Volkswagen Golf into two parked cars.

Tests revealed the suspicious package contained cocaine.

Houston pleaded guilty to supplying the Class A drug and driving without due care and attention yesterday at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

Fiscal depute Melanie Ward said police were poised in Edinburgh's Lindsay Place after hearing a drugs trade would take place on 3 July. She said: "

Police blocked the front and back of his car to try and stop him driving off. An officer tried to pull out the car keys, but he drove off, mounting a pavement before colliding with two cars."

Houston, from Granton, was bailed by Sheriff Neil MacKinnon and will be sentenced next month.