Two jailed after £700k cocaine bust in Heston

Two men have been jailed after being caught carrying out a £700,000 cocaine deal.

Michael Middleton, 41, was caught by police passing 7kg of the drug to Ervis Hoxha, 31, in Heston, West London, on 12 March 2020.

Middleton had driven back to the UK via the Eurotunnel service from Calais to Folkstone.

He then drove to Heston and parked up on Westbrook Road, before getting out the car with a rucksack filled with cocaine.

Officers from both the Met and the National Crime Agency watched as Middleton got into the passenger seat of Hoxha’s car. The joint task force then moved in to arrest the two men.

7kg of cocaine was seized in the bust (Met/NCA)

As well as the drugs, officers seized almost £7,000 in cash from Hoxha’s car.

When searching his home in Tooting, they found a further £1,500 in cash and along with plastic wraps, a drug press, scales and a heat sealing machine.

Forensic examination of Hoxha and Middleton’s phones found they were both using encrypted devices.

Both men admitted to supplying class A drugs. Another man, who was in Middleton’s car on the night of the arrests, was fined after pleading guilty to possession of a class A drug.

Hoxha was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison and Middleton to three years and five months.

Detective Chief Inspector Tony O’Sullivan, from the Organised Crime Partnership, said:

“Drugs, cash and violence are a vicious cycle that all go hand-in-hand. The OCP is acting swiftly to arrest criminals and break the link between all the three factors.

“The NCA and Met will continue to work together to stop organised criminals profiting on the supply of drugs, which in turn will help reduce violent crime across London and the UK.”

The Organised Crime Partnership (formerly the Middle Market Drugs Partnership) has been in operation for 15 years and is comprised of equal numbers of specialist Metropolitan Police Detectives and NCA Special Operations officers.

The team works to stop the flow of firearms and drugs to the criminal market in London, target criminals that impact on London, as well as disrupting those that make huge profits from this illegal activity.