A Leeds drug dealer has been put behind bars after he was caught passing over £160,000 worth of class A drugs to a taxi driver.
Prolific dealer, Shafiqul Ali, 43, has been jailed for 14 years after being found guilty of conspiracy to supply heroin, possession of cocaine with intent to supply and possession of criminal property. Leeds Crown Court heard on Monday he was caught passing over the drugs in a street in 2020.
Prosecutor Abdul Shakoor said: “At 3.54pm on 21st May 2020, police observed a silver Skoda Octavia taxi enter Allerton Park in Leeds and then a Mercedes was seen to pull up close behind and they both left the area in convoy.
“Footage from dashcam in the Octavia recorded a transaction occurring between the driver and a second man, during which a package was seen being passed through the window. At 4.12pm in Sheepscar, the Skoda was stopped by armed police and two kilogram [of heroin] was found under the front passenger seat.”
The wholesale value of the drugs was said to be estimated to be between £40,000 and £60,000, while the street value was estimated to be between £160,000. The court heard the taxi driver had travelled from Leicester and would be dropping the drugs off in the West Midlands.
Mr Shakoor said officers found to transaction had been arranged over Encrochat. As a result of police enquiries, Ali, of HMP Wealstun, was arrested on July 16, 2020, and his home was searched.
Officers discovered 5.65g of cocaine “which appeared to be testers for larger quantities”. Mr Shakoor said £10,500 in cash was also found at the property. Ali went on to tell police some of the money was his, but some belonged to his brother.
The court heard he had 17 previous convictions for 39 offences on his record including possession with intent to supply heroin and crack cocaine, being concerned in the supply of heroin, failing to surrender, conspiracy to supply cocaine and conspiracy to supply a class B drug. He was on licence at the time of the 2020 offences.
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Mitigating, Jon Anders said: “You must sentence the defendant for what happened and there was a trial. This was a business transaction. The purity of the heroin is not the amount one may expect if it was close to the source.
“That perhaps separates the idea that he may have had his own functional role to pay in passing over or obtaining the drugs, but that doesn’t mean he had a leading role.”
As he jailed Ali, His Honour Judge Khokhar said: “The defendant was a shrewd dealer in drugs and that is my assessment of him and despite receiving longer and longer sentences, he has continued to move up in the drugs trade.”
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