Taxi driver used cab to travel to Somerset to pick up two kilos of cocainehttps://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/ ... ne-9276807A taxi driver was caught transporting £120,000 worth of cocaine after travelling from his home to pick up the package in Somerset.
Hasan Saghir used his cab as a disguise, Leeds Crown Court was told, but he was stopped by officers in the West Country not long after the handover.
The 26-year-old’s Wakefield home was then searched and £48,000 worth of heroin was found. Hasan was jailed after admitting two counts of dealing in Class A drugs.
Saghir, a licensed taxi driver, travelled the 220 miles to the Shepton Mallet area of Somerset on February 6. A supposed customer then got into his Toyota Prius with a black bag. After a short drive, the person got out and left the bag in the cab.
With CCTV fitted inside the car, Saghir rang someone and was heard to tell them “sorted” as he looked inside the bag. Saghir was arrested a short time later at a nearby petrol station.
The bag was found to have two kilogrammes of 90% pure cocaine. It was estimated to be worth between £38,000 and £120,000. Saghir’s home on Silcoates Street in Wakefield was searched and the heroin found.
During his police interview, he confirmed he lived at the address but then refused to answer questions.
Mitigating, Mohammed Rafiq said: “The question is how on earth did a well-educated man get involved in this matter?” He said that Saghir had become addicted to cocaine, which led to a debt “to the tune of thousands”.
Mr Rafiq added: “He was under pressure to pay and sadly got involved into the world of drug supply. “It can’t minimise what he has done but that’s an explanation.
“He is ashamed of bringing himself into this situation. He realises what he has done is wrong and needs to learn from this.” He said that Saghir had no previous convictions.
There was a suggestion by Saghir that he has been simply acting a courier for the drugs, but Judge Ray Singh rejected the claim, calling it “fanciful”. He told him: “It was nonsense. You understood completely the scale of this operation.”
He added: “This is not foolish behaviour, this is not a lapse of judgement. This was a conscious decision taken by yourself to be involved in the supply of Class A drugs, undoubtedly on the streets of this county.”
He said the offences were aggravated by the fake taxi ride in Somerset in order to hand over the drugs discreetly.
He jailed Saghir for six years and eight months.
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