The 28-year-old man was caught after Warwickshire Road Policing Unit saw a car on the A444A Coventry
[sic] drug dealer received texts warning the 'po po' were stopping cars in Nuneaton - but still got caught, and with a child in the car too. Elsae Driaj tried to flee as police arrested him.
A co-ordinator tipped him off about police activity. The Coventry resident received a text saying: "Just letting you know po-po stopping cars on Edward Street, Princes Street and Queens Road. Heads up x'.
But the 28-year-old man from Cossington Road, Coventry still ended up being caught. On January 16, officers from Warwickshire Road Policing Unit clocked a car travelling along the A444 towards Nuneaton on the Griff roundabout.
The car had a marker for drug supply activity and they followed it and eventually pulled it over in the park the Jubilee Sports Centre in Greenmoor Road. Inside the car were three people – Driaj, another male passenger, and a young child. Driaj, who was at that time disqualified from driving, initially provided false details about himself to the officers.
When he was told he would be detained for a search and handcuffed, Driaj actively resisted and attempted to run away. But he was arrested.
Officers found he had 102 bags of cocaine, £110 in cash, and two smartphones. Inside the car a small amount of cannabis was found in the centre console, along with a further £125 cash.
Following Driaj’s arrest, police raided his home in Coventry where more cannabis and several large canisters of nitrous oxide were found and seized. Having checked the mobile phones, police uncovered the messages he received about places to deal and the 'tip offs' where to avoid the 'po po'
On March 18, he was sentenced to 34 months in prison at Warwick Crown Court and is also required to pay a victims’ surcharge of £187 in total. He was sentenced on charges of possession with intent to supply cocaine, possession of cannabis, possession of nitrous oxide canisters (now a class C drug), being concerned in the supply of cocaine, driving whilst disqualified, and driving without insurance.
Speaking after the court sentencing, DC Gordon said “Driaj is the tip of a criminal network which inevitably surrounds the sale of cocaine – a substance soaked in misery and blood from its production in the tropics to its arrival and distribution in the UK. His sentence is reflective of his involvement with this level of criminal activity, and we hope it serves as a warning to anyone involved or seeking involvement with the illicit drug trade.”