HALF a kilo of cocaine was taken off the streets of Brighton after police discovered it in hidden in a carpet cleaner in the boot of a car.

The car, a black Lexus IS220D, was wanted by police after it had been marked as being driven without insurance along Preston Road.

It was discovered parked outside the Grosvenor Casino in Grand Junction Road, Brighton on March 20.

Sitting inside was Shingayi Bayayi, 35, from Bouverie Gardens, Purley, Croydon, who admitted to police he had no insurance or driver’s licence and no form of identification to prove who he was.

Bayayi, a carpet cleaner, was arrested on suspicion of driving offences and the car was seized under section 135 of the Road Traffic Act for no insurance and to be searched for drugs.

Initially the officers did not find anything suspicious in the vehicle but a large carpet cleaning machine in the boot of the car rattled as it was being removed from the vehicle prompting officers to take it apart.

Inside they discovered a large Foot Locker carrier bag with the hidden stash of cocaine inside the water container section.

Bayayi was charged with the use of a motor vehicle on a road/public place without third party insurance, driving a motor vehicle otherwise that in accordance without a licence and possession with the intent to supply a controlled Class A drug (cocaine).

He appeared before Brighton Magistrates’ Court in April where he entered a not guilty plea.

He then appeared before Guildford Crown Court where he changed his plea for the three offences to guilty.

Bayayi was given a six-year custodial sentence receiving a ten per cent reduction for his early guilty plea.

Detective Constable Shirley White, said: “We did not expect to find the stash of cocaine in the car when it was first spotted outside the casino.

“Searching the vehicle was standard protocol, but as soon as we lifted the cleaning machine out of the car we knew there was something not quite right.

“It was the quick-thinking of the police officers to dismantle the machine that led to us taking a large amount of cocaine off the streets.”