Leeds drug 'custodian' due for deportation after completing prison sentence
A drugs “warehouseman” caught with £20,000 worth of cocaine is expected to be deported once he completes his jail sentence.
Albanian national Arjan Xhaferaj was jailed at Leeds Crown Court more than two years.
He was arrested after police went to a property in Leeds looking for another man on the morning of December 16 last year.
Forcing their way in, they found Xhaferaj, cash totalling £7,450 hidden in furniture and a shoe box in a cupboard containing 326 grammes of cocaine worth.
They also found more than four grammes of cannabis in a jar, prosecutor Robert Galley said.
Documents found also suggested that Xharaj had sent more than £1,300 back to Albania through Western Union.
Xhaferaj, of Skinner Lane, Sheepscar, admitted dealing in cocaine, possession of cannabis and possession of criminal property.
Mitigating, Graeme Wilson said Xhaferaj was unable to work because of his illegal status, so took cash-in-hand jobs.
He said that he was simply a “custodian” and was simply looking after the drugs.
He said that Xhaferaj knows he will be deported home to Albania once out of jail.
But the judge, Recorder Nathan Moxon, raised questions over the money Xhaferaj had sent home, suggesting he was not simply a custodian.
He said tens of thousands was wired back to Albania between February 2024 and December 2025. He added that it was simply not consistent with cash-in-hand work.
He jailed Xhaferaj for 30 months.