With his black Land Rover Discovery with tinted windows, swimming pool, state-of-the-art plasma television and expensive new kitchen, there was something not quite right about Michael Smith.

For one thing, the 44-year-old, from Park Road, Witney, was not even working. Instead, he was funding his extravagant lifestyle on the proceeds of drugs.

But Smith got careless and couldn't resist the flashy lifestyle. His extravagance made detectives suspicious, and after searching his home, they discovered 13 ounces of cocaine - with a street value of at least £18,000.

Smith is now starting a two-year jail sentence after admitting possessing Class A drugs with intent to supply.

Chief Inspector Dennis Evernden, area commander for West Oxfordshire, said: "It was his greedy lifestyle which gave him away.

"He shouldn't have had that amount of money to flash about. And if he hadn't won the Lottery, there had to be something else."

He said detectives, led by Dc Robbie Hughes, carried out a painstaking investigation, which revealed the extent of Smith's extravagance.

Mr Evernden said: "He had flashy clothes, a nice car and was 'living it up'. We got a warrant under the Misuse of Drugs Act, and were lucky. We recovered 13 ounces of cocaine. He paid a few thousand for it, but it was worth a minimum of £18,000 because it was so pure.

"And we believe he was dealing from his house."

He added: "West Oxfordshire has a really low level of drug supply and use, but this shows that if we get any indication that someone is dealing, we will jump on them."

He said the cocaine seized during the search, last September, was likely to have ended up on the streets of Oxford, rather than staying in Witney. But he said the seizure would have made "a severe dent" in the amount of cocaine on the street.

Mr Evernden added: "This was an unusually large amount of drugs for west Oxfordshire."

Financial investigations will continue into Smith's wealth as part of plans to seize any assets bought on the proceeds of drug dealing.

Mr Evernden said: "If we can link it to drugs, we can have it - whether it's his telly or car. And we can use a big portion of the money we get to carry out more anti-drug operations.

"If you are driving a Rolls-Royce but have a Morris Minor income, you have to be able to explain to a court where your money came from, and be prepared to give up your Rolls, or in this case Land Rover, to help us catch other dealers."

He described Smith as a "dope, mule or runner" - drug parlance for a low-level supplier. He said: "He was a 'chancer' - otherwise he wouldn't have been caught."

But added: "Every drug dealer taken off the street gives us an opportunity to gather evidence on people further up the supply chain."