Man jailed after Police find £1m Class A Drugs in Car

Usman Iftikhar, aged 28, of Peterborough, was jailed for six years and eight months after nearly £1 million worth of Class A drugs were found in a car.

He was arrested on February 7, 2022, after officers from the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU) carried out a proactive stop of a car in Boongate.

Cambridge Crown Court heard that Iftikhar was a passenger in the vehicle.

Officers searched the car and found 11 kilograms of heroin and two kilograms of cocaine inside a “bag for life”.

The Class A drugs were worth approximately £933,000 if they were sold in individual “street deals”.

The driver of the car, a man in his 20s, was also arrested but he was later released with no further action being taken against him.

Iftikhar pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply heroin and cocaine.

He was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison.

Detective Inspector Mike Birch, from ERSOU, said:

“The arrest of Iftikhar was possible thanks to our new operational crime team, which is dedicated to carrying out fast-time disruptions of serious and organised crime across the eastern region.

“The recovery of such a significant amount of both heroin and cocaine demonstrates the impact this team is having across the region and we’re really pleased to have been able to remove such a high quantity of Class A drugs from circulation while locking away a dangerous individual.

“We will be continuing to work with our forces and partners to clamp down on drug-related criminality, protecting our communities from the harm it causes.”

In a previous instance, two drug dealers were jailed after police found a haul of high purity cocaine worth approximately £3 million.

Faheem Kola was seen by officers handing over three plastic bags containing 19 kilograms of high purity cocaine to Asaf Salim on Spen Valley Road in Ravensthorpe, West Yorkshire, on November 11, 2021.

Later that day, officers raided Salim’s home.

Inside Salim’s home, police found seven blocks of cocaine in the cellar, over £5,000 in cash and three sets of scales.

Officers also searched Salim’s VW Golf, which he had driven to the meeting with Kola, despite being banned from the road.

Inside the car was a further 19 blocks of cocaine.

Kola was arrested the same day after police stopped his car in Halifax.

A search of his vehicle found it contained a professionally designed ‘hide’, which was used for storing illegal substances.

Both his and Salim’s vehicles were seized, along with another car which Salim had documentation for.

Kola was sentenced to 11 years and three months in prison.

Salim was jailed for 11 years.