WIREDGOV

Two men who were caught making a drugs handover outside a pub near Slough have been given a total of more than 12 years behind bars.

Albanian national Roland Kolimja (below right) and Romanian trucker Ion Chiru (below left) tried to carry out the deal outside a pub on Horton Road in Poyle. Chiru, 40, had arrived in the UK earlier that day via the Channel Tunnel and driven his lorry to a nearby industrial estate.

Both men were unaware that they were under surveillance by officers from the National Crime Agency, who after witnessing Chiru pass a holdall to Kolimja moved in and arrested them both.

The bag (above centre) contained around three kilos of cocaine which would have had a potential likely street value of around £600,000.

Both men admitted conspiring to import class A drugs, and on Monday 24 August a judge at Kingston Crown Court sentenced Kolimja, 37, of Muswell Hill in London, to six and a half years in prison, while Chiru got six years.

Andy Miller, senior officer for the National Crime Agency, said:

“These men were engaged in a plot to put several hundred thousand pounds worth of dangerous class A drugs onto our streets.

“However, they were unaware that the NCA was one step ahead and watching their every move.

“I want those who continue to be involved in the illegal drugs trade to know that they shouldn’t sleep easy in their beds – the NCA is committed to tracking you down, stopping you and depriving you of your liberty.”