Kent Police seized cocaine with a street value of nearly £540,000 last December from 46-year-old Neil Wheatley, a director at First and Business Class Travel, as well as more than £45,000 in cash.

Wheatley, of Tuscan Drive, Lordswood, hid more than £40,000 of cocaine in the walls of his office, and also secluded cash and drugs in the airbag compartment of his car, Kent Police said.

He was arrested and charged with being concerned in the supply of class-A drugs and possession of criminal property, to which he pleaded guilty earlier this year.

On Thursday (March 7), he was jailed for eight years during an appearance at Maidstone Crown Court.

Chief Inspector Rob Marsh said: “All the indications are that Neil Wheatley was one of the leaders of an organised crime group who sold large amounts of crack cocaine on the streets of Kent and beyond.

“Law-abiding people do not usually stuff bundles of cash into walls or airbag compartments so it is no surprise Wheatley pleaded guilty to the offences he was charged with.

“I hope this result sends a clear message to others we take a zero tolerance approach to the supply of class-A drugs in Kent and will not hesitate to arrest and prosecute those who seek to benefit from the misery of others.”

In total, police seized cocaine with a street value of £539,340 and £46,610 in cash.

The court heard how Wheatley was pulled over by police in Chatham on the afternoon of December 14, 2018, and his car was searched, recovering a ball of cocaine, cash and three mobile phones.

A more thorough search found a secret compartment where the passenger airbag should have been. Inside, officers discovered a large quantity of cocaine and a bundle of banknotes.

Following Wheatley’s arrest, officers searched three properties linked to him, including his office in Rochester high street.

There, they located a “significant quantity of cash and drugs” hidden inside a wall behind an air vent.

Prosecutor Tom Dunn, the Mirror reports, told the court Wheatley was buying and selling “on a commercial scale”, adding the travel agency was a “legitimate business” set up by Wheatley and two partners, but was used by him as a “drugs operation base”.