Deported Albanian sneaked back into the UK and caught with 10kg of cannabis in Leeds
An illegal immigrant deported for a drug offence was caught again in Leeds, this time transporting 10kg of cannabis.
Armando Gjoka was previously jailed in March of last year for growing the plants, before being thrown out of the UK.
But the 24-year-old admitted dealing in cannabis and possession of criminal property from October 22 of this year.
Leeds Crown Court heard that officers had spotted a vehicle on the M62 eastbound at around 3pm that day and decided to pull it over after it flagged up as having outstanding speeding offences.
Prosecutor Rachel Webster said Gjoka was driving and had a passenger with him. They pulled them over into a layby on the A650 in Leeds and could immediately smell cannabis.
Gjoka said there were drugs in the boot, where they found 10 vacuum-packed bags of cannabis, each weighing a kilogramme. It was estimated that it had a street value of £100,000.
During his police interview, Gjoka said he was working as a courier and that his passenger knew nothing of the drugs.
Mitigating, Matthew Stewart said Gjoka had originally come to the UK with the help of traffickers and had incurred a £25,000 debt. He said he returned to the UK a second time to continue paying off that debt.
He said Gjoka, of no fixed address, had been unemployed in his home country and wanted to work in the UK so he could send money back to help out his family.
Judge Ray Singh told Gjoka: “Having got back into the UK you immediately started transporting significant quantities of cannabis around the area.
“You must have been a trusted employee because that cannabis could have raised £100,000 somewhat.”
He jailed him for 20 months and it is expected that he will be deported once again on his release.