A courier who travelled from Albania in the back of a lorry to escape poverty was found in a taxi with a kilogram of cocaine worth up to £52,000.
Eldorado Dani, 37, had been in the country just three weeks when he was involved in two trips transporting large amounts of class A drugs from London to Cardiff in return for payment from a drugs gang.
Police stopped Dani while he was travelling in a Volkswagen Passat taxi on the A48 Western Avenue in Cardiff on July 19 and when they searched the vehicle they discovered a Selfridges bag containing a block of cocaine.
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It was later found to be 1.042kg of cocaine of 50% purity with a street value between £41,680 and £52,100.
A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Friday heard the defendant had fled his home in Albania in search for work in the UK to pay off significant debts in his home country.
Prosecutor Ian Wright said the Passat had been seen on the westbound carriageway of the M4 in Slough at 9.15am on July 19 and was stopped in Gabalfa on the A48 at the junction with Excelsior Road at 11.10am.
Dani was a rear passenger in the taxi with the driver unaware of the contents of the package. The defendant was also found in possession of £640 in cash and a mobile phone, which was seized.
An investigation revealed the same taxi undertook a trip from London to Cardiff on July 13 and cell site analysis of the defendant's phone confirmed he was in Cardiff on the day in question.
He later admitted couriering another kilogram block of cocaine on that day.
Dani, of no fixed abode, later pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply class A drugs. He is of previous good character.
In mitigation, Michael McAlinden described his client's background and how he entered the UK illegally on the back of a lorry.
He said: "He came from Albania, from poverty, and borrowed money for his family as his father is in ill health. He borrowed upwards of £10,000 in Albania to pay for the treatment of his father and the rest of his family.
"He was taken out of school at the age of 13 and was sent to work on various farms earning £5 a week. He has lived in poverty all his life and borrowed money to come to this country so he could earn money to pay off his debts in Albania and to make a better life for himself and his family."
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Mr McAlinden said the defendant was promised construction work in the UK but after this fell through he found himself asking fast food restaurants for spare food and was eating out of bins. His situation was described as "desperate" when he took up the offer of employment as a drug courier.
Sentencing, Recorder IWL Jones said: "Controlled drugs are a serious problem in our society and they destroy lives, they destroy families and they put you in the dock of this Crown court. You have become involved in a very dangerous world...
"There is no excuse for getting involved in this dirty, violent trade. Class A drugs bring misery to people and you were bringing a considerable amount from London to south Wales."
Dani was sentenced to four years imprisonment and was ordered to pay back £640.
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