A TAXI driver has been sent to prison for five years after being found guilty of being a drug dealer.
Hartlepool man Bilal Hussain (pictured) had denied the outdoor led down lights charges of possession of heroin and possession with intent to supply heroin but was found unanimously guilty by the jury of seven men and five women at Teesside Crown Court yesterday.
His pregnant girlfriend, Nargis Nazir, 31, who also denied the same charges, was cleared on both counts and wept as the verdict was announced.
The pair were arrested as part of a police surveillance operation and were found to have [pounds sterling]2,350 of heroin and nearly [pounds sterling]1,000 in cash.
There was also [pounds sterling]1,900 found in a handbag, a wallet and a black purse in the car and in the pair's Dyke House home.
Hussain had maintained that the drugs were not his and had been left on the back seat of his cab by a customer.
He also insisted that most of the money that had been found by police was from the sale of his Audi car.
Recorder Aidan Marron told Hussain: "Heroin is a very dangerous substance indeed and you took your chances in front of a jury, but there is no doubt that you were dealing in heroin.
discount abercrombie"You get no credit for your pleas and you have shown no remorse."
Cab driver Hussain, 36, of Allerton Close in the Dyke House area of Hartlepool, was working for Boro Taxis in Middlesbrough when the pair were stopped by police in a silver taxi on July 28, last year.
Police found 23.5 gms of heroin in 13 plastic bags stuffed inside tubes of Boomer Twist and Penguin Chukker sweets, which were hidden in the glove compartment of the car.
Robin Denny, in mitigation, said: "My client has no previous history of dealing in controlled drugs."
Following the verdict Detective Constable Danny Oldroyd, of Cleveland Police, said: "This is a good result and should serve as a warning to others.
"Hussain used his taxi as cover to supply street dealers with drugs. When police stopped his cab over [pounds sterling]2,500 pounds of heroin was found hidden in sweet wrappers together with [pounds sterling]1,000 in cash.
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"Hussain was caught through intelligence-led police work linked in with help from the public. This is partnership working at its best to rid the streets of people who deal in drugs."
This operation is part of many underway by Cleveland Police in their commitment to putting people and the communities in Cleveland first in the battle to eradicate the area of drugs and drug dealers.
A spokesman for Cleveland Police added: " Hussain has a long time in a prison cell now to reflect on what he has done.
"There will be no let up on our part in the fight against this evil menace."
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