Taxi driver jailed after being caught with heroinA BROKEN brake light on a taxi heading out of Middlesbrough sparked the discovery of more than 2kg of heroin being couriered from Teesside.
The Peugeot 307 was moving southbound on the A19 when officers noticed the defective light and saw that the driver wasn’t wearing a seatbelt.
The man behind the wheel, Mohammed Nadeem, was shaking, sweating and “extremely nervous” when he was pulled over at 6.35pm on August 27 last year.
Taxi driver and drugs courier Nadeem, 39, had four half-kilo packages of heroin in the car, Teesside Crown Court heard.
“The total weight of heroin recovered was 2,001g, just slightly over 2kg,” said prosecutor Christine Egerton.
“The street value of those drugs would be £150,000 to £205,000 depending on how it was dealt at the time.”
At first, Nadeem said he had no knowledge of the drugs or how they’d got into the car, which he claimed he’d left unlocked.
He later admitted possessing the Class A drugs with intent to supply – his first offence.
The prosecution accepted his account that he was acting as a courier in a one-off exchange.
He said he was asked by a friend to travel to Middlesbrough, where he met a man and was asked to take a package back to Bedford.
He rang his friend and was told he should “do as he was told”. He was scared and agreed to take the drugs under pressure from “ruthless” people.
Nadeem, of Dunville Road, Bedford, had six references from employers, two councillors and a mosque.
Martin Sharpe, defending, said: “People speak highly of him. He’s a respected man in the local community, a good employee. No one can believe he’s got himself in this situation. He has only himself to blame.
“He suspected it was drugs. He couldn’t think of any other reason why he’d be asked to transfer this package.
“He agreed after telephoning his friend. The call made it clear that these people were not to be messed with. He wasn’t really in a position to decline.
“He was going to receive a fee of £150 to £200 for the taxi journey.
“He lent money from his friend and felt obligated to help him.”
Mr Sharpe added that Nadeem, a British citizen living in a one-bedroom bedsit, supported his estranged family in the UK and his mother in Pakistan.
Judge George Moorhouse told Nadeem: “You had a responsible job as a taxi driver and you abused that position.”
He jailed Nadeem for four years and banned him from driving for the same period.
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