DRUGS IN CABS


CRACK DEALING PHV DRIVER MAKES 1,000 MILE TRIP FROM LONDON TO DUNDEE TO SELL DRUGS


A PHV driver who made a 1,000-mile round trip from London to Dundee to supply £13,500 worth of crack cocaine has been jailed for 18 months. MyLondon reports that Hannan Khan, 24, from South London, adapted his taxi to hide drugs before making the long drive to Dundee.


He claimed that the pandemic had left him without work, and that he was forced to turn to dealing the Class A drug to fund himself. A second car found in the city was also linked to Khan, in which over £13,000 worth of crack cocaine was found. Sheriff Paul Brown said: “I note the mitigation in terms of how you became involved in this, your previous good character, and note that pressure was brought to bear on you. You had little influence on those above you in the


chain of supply. There is immaturity involved here. However, this is a serious offence. “You were traffick- ing a Class A drug which has, and is, having a devastat- ing effect on communities. “The use of your minicab is an aggravating factor. You had an under- standing of


the scale of the


operation. There is no alternative here to a custodial sentence.” Khan, from Wandsworth, admitted being involved in the supply of crack cocaine in Dundee on 9 July last year. Fiscal depute Gavin Burton said police officers spotted Khan’s grey Toyota


Corolla driving around the city and followed him on the basis of a drugs tip-off. “They activated blue lights and pulled him over. He was the sole occupant and was removed from the vehicle. They conducted a systematic search of the vehicle. It was noted that the electronic parts for opening the windows and adjusting the mirrors on the driver’s door were loose.” Drugs were found hidden in the door panel. A second car linked to the accused was recovered near the Ambassador Bar and within the two vehicles a total of almost 500 wraps were found. Along with a stash of crack cocaine which was still waiting to be sub- divided and individually packaged, the total haul had a street value of £13,500.


STOKE UBER DRIVER CAUGHT DEALING COCAINE FROM HIS CAB GETS SUSPENDED SENTENCE


Uber driver Ghafar Hussain was caught carrying out drug drops as he picked up fares in North Staffordshire. The Stoke Sentinel reports that the 26-year-old’s cab was stopped by police after they watched what they believed to be a deal taking place. Prosecutor Siobhan Collins said police were on unmarked patrol in Crackley, at 10pm on 2 October 2020, when they saw a


teenager leave a house,


approach a Toyota Avensis Uber, get in the vehicle for about 20 seconds and then return to where he’d come from. “As this was consistent with a drugs exchange having taken place police indicated for it to stop. The defendant was detained and a search took place.” Police recovered: two iPhones; 63 individual grip seal bags of cocaine weighing 19.5 grams in total, worth between £1,260 and £1,890; £800 cash


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and two Nokia phones. The defendant was arrested and offi- cers then searched his home where a safe was found in his bedroom contain- ing a bag which had 83 bags of cocaine worth between £1,660 to £2,490. There was also a tube containing another 82 bags worth £1,640 to £2,460. And a second tube had 60 bags of cocaine worth £1,200 to £1,800. £11,345 cash and another mobile phone was found. One of the phones contained a message linking the defendant to the supply of cocaine. Hussain pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply a class A drug. His plea was on a basis he was pressured to collect and deliver class A drugs by a man he had known for 12 months. He had no influence on those above him.


Balbir Singh, mitigating, said the defen-


dant, of previous good character, was holding the drugs for someone else. He said: “He was pressured into this. He was not selling on the streets. He is remorseful and unlikely to reoffend. “He enjoyed his job as a taxi driver. He lost it straight away and he won’t get that back.” He added that the defendant has spent 422 days subject to a curfew, half of which (about seven months) would be deducted from any sentence. Hussain received two years in prison, suspended for two years, at Stoke Crown Court and must complete 15 days rehabilitation activity requirement. The Judge said: “There are very few people involved in the dealing of class A substances who do not have their liberty taken away from them immedi- ately. I believe there is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation.”


JANUARY 2022


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