Not much here on the 'taxi' angle, or whether or not it was even a plated car the driver was using
Bristol cocaine gang jailed after police stop taxi driver on M4
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bris ... er-6381287
Police seized cocaine worth hundreds of thousands of pounds during the investigation
Clockwise (from top left): David Griffiths, Ilyas Osoble, Hamse Mohamod and Faysal Hussein-Abdalla
(Image: Avon and Somerset Police/Bristol Post)
A taxi driver was caught on the M4 transporting a cocaine haul worth up to £600,000.
Police pulled over Faysal Hussein-Abdalla after following him from Bristol to Newport on March 18, where he picked up the drugs before heading back to the West Country.
The 32-year-old, of no fixed abode, was one of four men who have now been jailed for the supply of cocaine between Bristol and South Wales.
They have been sentenced to a combined total of more than 25 years in prison following an Avon and Somerset Police investigation during which officers seized six kilograms of the class A drug.
The force estimated its street value to be between £250,000 and £600,000.
David Griffiths, 50, and Hamse Mohamod, 37, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine. Ilyas Osoble, 39, and 32-year-old Faysal Hussein-Abdalla were found guilty of the same offence following a trial.
Police officers observed Mohamod and Osoble engaging with taxi driver Hussein-Abdalla in Easton on Thursday, March 18.
They followed the taxi driver to Newport where he met with Griffiths, handed him half a dozen bags each filled with one kilogram of cocaine.
Hussein-Abdalla was stopped by police on the M4 upon returning to the West Country and was arrested.
The police investigation uncovered text messages and phone calls made by Osoble and Mohamod following the arrest, as they became increasingly concerned about why Hussein-Abdalla was delayed in dropping off the drugs.
All four men involved were sentenced at Bristol Crown Court. Mohamod and Osoble were jailed on Friday, October 29, with the others in court on Friday, December 10.
Griffiths, of Layhill Green in Newport, received a prison sentence of five years and 10 months. Mohamod, of Somerset Terrace in Bedminster, was jailed for six years and nine months.
Hussein-Abdalla, of no fixed abode, received a four-and-a-half-year sentence and Osoble, of Charfield Road in Southmead, was handed an eight-year jail term.
'Substantial sentences'
Police shared a statement today (Monday, December 20) following the conclusion of the court proceedings.
Detective Constable Benjamin Rix said: “This month’s sentencing hearing follows a significant police operation targeting individuals seeking to profit from organised crime.
“Cocaine and other illegal substances cause misery to communities and we will continue to do all that we can do to disrupt criminal activity around the supply of such drugs.
“We are grateful for the help of the Crown Prosecution Service and the judge in obtaining convictions and substantial prison sentences for these offenders.”
