A POLICE inspector with responsibility for disposing of seized drugs was found with hundreds of thousands of pounds of cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin, ecstasy and cannabis in his home, a jury has heard.

Keith Boots, 55, who had been a West Yorkshire Police officer for more than 20 years, stole drugs from police stores to supply others, Leeds Crown Court was told.

Prosecutor Paul Greaney QC said: “The Boots operation did not just involve the theft of drugs removed from the streets by the police, it also involved putting them back on to those same streets and the person principally responsible was Keith Boots, a police inspector.”

Mr Greaney said the drugs and ammunition were found when colleagues raided Boots’s home in Norman Lane, Eccleshill, Bradford, smashing down the door in December 2014. The drugs were in different places, including his washing machine, the court heard.

The prosecutor said: “The total value of the drugs on the street would have been several hundred thousand pounds.”

Keith Boots denies theft, possession of controlled drugs with intent to supply, possessing ammunition, conspiracy to supply controlled drugs, conspiracy to steal and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

Ashley Boots, 29, of Halifax, denies charges including possession of controlled drugs with intent to supply.

Ian Mitchell, 27, of no fixed address, denies conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

The trial continues.