A DRUG dealer who kept dirty money and a £2,000 designer watch hidden inside a Wellington boot has been jailed for 32 months.

Michael O’Neill, 30, was snared by officers with over 500 grams of the drug in his car last October.

A search of his then home in East Kilbride, Lanarkshire, uncovered a further £6,910 in cash kept in a cupboard and attic.

O’Neill, now of the city’s Cambuslang, pleaded guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court to supplying cocaine aggravated by a connection with serious organised crime.

Sheriff Sean Murphy QC said: “You chose to be involved in the distribution of class A drugs.

“This should accommodate nothing less than a custodial sentence.

“It’s quite clear you were involved in the drugs at a high scale and involved others in taking Class A drugs.”

The court heard officers stopped O’Neill’s Renault Megane on Richmond Place, East Kilbride.

The vehicle was searched and two mobile phones, a big containing a white substance and a bag containing a block.

The dad of one was arrested and a further search of his home at Craigneith Court, East Kilbride, was carried out.

Entry was granted by O’Neill’s lover Rachel Fulton, 27, who informed officers they were not together at the time.

Officers found two envelopes and two shoe boxes containing cash as well as scales in a cupboard.

Prosecutor Mark Allan added: “An envelope containing cash was also in two wellington boots as was a Tag Carerra watch and paperwork.”

A mixing bowl with traces of white powder, freezer bags and a silver spoon containing white powder were also found in the attic.

The cash recovered from the property and the car amounted to £6,910 in total.

One of the bad seized was found to be 13.6g of cocaine while the other contained 488g of the drug.

Mr Allan added: “The value of the drugs in total is somewhere between £10,000 to £20,000.

Billy Lavelle, defending, told the court that the offence was “out of character.”

He added: “He feels he was pushed into this and was under pressure from others to take part.”