A BENEFITS claimant was jailed today (Tuesday) after he was caught with high purity cocaine that could have produced 11 kilos of the drug worth up to £440,000 on the streets.

Calum Morrison admitted to police after he was detained that he was bulking up cocaine for onward supply.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard that officers armed with a search warrant turned up at his home in Union Street, Cowdenbeath, after confidential information was received that large amounts of drugs were being stored in the flat.

Police found unemployed Morrison, 38, who received £70 a week in state benefits, alone in the flat with bags of cocaine and packages of the cutting agent, benzocaine.

A total of 1.1 kilos of cocaine was found along with 1.3 kilos of the adulterant commonly used to bulk out the drug.

Advocate depute Lisa Gillespie told the court that some of the cocaine's purity was as low as three per cent but almost half a kilo of the drug was 70 per cent pure.

The prosecutor said that if the latter amount was adulterated to three per cent and sold in street deals, it was worth between £220,000 and £440,000 and could have produced in excess of 11 kilos for sale.

Along with the drugs and cutting agent, police also found digital scales, paper with numbers which was thought to be a tick list, and spoons, a knife, mixing bowl and a hand blender with traces of powder.

The advocate depute said Morrison was taken to Dunfermline police station following his detention on November 10 last year.

"When he was interviewed, he admitted that the items recovered in the house were his and that he had been adulterating cocaine for onward supply," she said.

"He stated that he had purchased around three-quarters of a kilogram of cocaine the week previously," she told the court.

The advocate depute added: "He would not comment on how much he was selling the drug for or how much money he was making but stated that he sold it in quantities of not less than half an ounce at a time."

Morrison admitted being concerned in the supply of the Class A drug on November 3 and 10 last year, when he appeared in court.

Defence solicitor advocate Gordon Martin said: "He accepts that given the quantity of drugs recovered and their potential value, the court will have little option other than a custodial sentence."

Judge Robert Weir QC told Morrison, who had been on bail, that he would continue the case for a background report on him ahead of sentencing.

The judge said: "In view of the amounts involved and the nature of the drug involved I propose to remand you in custody."