Police tailed Darryl Scott all the way to Bootle, tracking him as he went to pick up a haul of drugs stashed in a secret compartment.
Officers pulled him over near the Tyne Tunnel and uncovered nine packages of white powder.
The 32-year-old tried to pass it off as cannabis, but his story fell apart when experts hacked his encrypted device. Scores of messages popped up, all about cocaine.