TWO Bury men have been convicted for their part in a drug dealing plot involving cannabis with a street value of £100,000.

Khalid Mahmood, aged 31, of Morley Street, Bury, was jailed for two years and eight months, at Bolton Crown Court.

James Albert Finlay, aged 30, of Balmoral Close, Greenmount, was given a nine month sentence, suspended for two years, ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and given a 12 month supervision order.

Also sentenced were Darren Hancock, aged 46, of Haslingden, who was jailed for two and a half years, and Wayne Whiting, aged 30, of Kent, who received an 18 month jail term, and Kabeer Hussain, aged 30, of Rochdale, who was jailed for two years and eight months.

All had admitted being concerned in the supply of cannabis.

The court heard how in May last year, Mahmood and Hussain met up with Hancock and Whiting at Roach Bank in Bury. An exchange was witnessed and a package put into the boot of a Peugeot 307 car.

Whiting left Manchester and travelled on the M6 towards London.

His car was stopped at 10pm by police from Greater Manchester and Cheshire.

In the car boot they found six bin bags of cannabis bushweighing almost 20kg.

The drugs had a street value of about £100,000.

When the bags were examined, traces of DNA matching Hancock and Finlay was recovered.

Detective Sergeant Nicholas Edge, of the Xcalibre Organised Crime Unit, said: “The men were involved in a plot to supply a large amount of illegal drugs, which would have undoubtedly hit the streets.

“To make such a large recovery is clearly an excellent result. To get some of these drug dealers locked up is even better.”