Drug dealer jailed after DNA left on grip seal bag
James Thorp has been sentenced to six and a half years in prison
A drug dealer whose DNA was located on a grip seal bag containing cocaine near Ashford has been jailed.
James Thorp was forensically linked to the bag after officers stopped a car on the M20 on 21 January 2019.
The open grip seal bag contained 481 grams of partially compressed cocaine in block portions which had a potential street value of up to £40,000.
His DNA was able to place Thorp with the bag and on 25 April 2019 he was arrested in Enfield, London and later charged.
After Thorp’s arrest officers found a handwritten note containing a telephone number which was used to contact a co-defendant and oversee a drug supply network involving 1.5kg of cocaine.
Following a trial at Canterbury Crown Court James Thorp, 58, of Springfields, Waltham Abbey, was found guilty of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.
Thorp was sentenced to six years and six months’ imprisonment on 23 October 2025.
This sentence also related to a separate indictment for possession of criminal property and possession of cocaine. Thorp had been stopped by police in August 2018 and a search of his vehicle had resulted in the seizure of £48,000 in a shoebox and an encrypted mobile phone.
Detective Sergeant Alan Poulton said: ‘James Thorp initially denied his involvement in this drugs network, but a thorough and detailed investigation proved that he played a pivotal role in arranging for the distribution of cocaine in Kent.
‘Drugs destroy lives, and we will continue to use all the methods available to us to bring perpetrators like Thorp to justice.’