Police stopped a man with a large suitcase acting 'suspiciously' at a railway station - and found a staggering haul of drugs inside.
Zihang Gong, a 26-year-old Chinese national, is now behind bars following the seizure by British Transport Police in central Manchester.
A court heard Gong was spotted on October 31 last year 'acting suspiciously and carrying a large suitcase' at Manchester Oxford Road railway station.
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The force said he 'appeared confused and lost', then became 'visibly nervous' when he spotted police officers. A spokesman said after a sentencing hearing: "Officers approached Gong and used a Mandarin translator via a mobile phone to communicate with him when it became apparent he didn't speak English.
"When asked what was in the suitcase, Gong replied that it did not belong to him, and that he was carrying it for a friend."
Officers opened the suitcase and found a large number of bundles of vacuum packaged cannabis.
The haul, said a force spokesperson, had an estimated street value of somewhere between £42,000 and £180,000.
Gong, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply a class B drug and was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court on Tuesday, February 20.
He was jailed for 16 months and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £187.
Investigating officer Sergeant Stuart Maw said: "Using the railway to move drugs is incredibly foolish. We have specialist teams working across the whole network tackling drug supply seven days a week, inevitably you will be caught and pay the consequences.
"Fortunately, once again, these drugs were intercepted before reaching communities."
