A drugs courier was found with more than 6kg of cannabis worth up to £49,000 after he travelled from Surrey to Wales to pick it up. He was stopped while driving on the M4 and the drugs were found in the boot. Neritan Nika, 32, was boxed in by police on the M4 near Briton Ferry on July 4 after intelligence was received to suggest he was in possession of drugs.
Officers noticed a strong smell of cannabis when they approached the silver Audi, with the defendant behind the driver’s seat and his cousin in the passenger seat. A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Thursday heard a search of the car was carried out and numerous vacuum-packed bags of cannabis were discovered. A number of iPhones were also seized.
Prosecutor Hannah Meredith said the total amount of cannabis seized was 6.32kg of cannabis. The value of the drugs was estimated to be between £22,000 and £49,000. In his police interview, Nika said he had driven up from Surrey the day before his arrest in order to pick up the drugs and was heading back towards London when he was stopped. He said it was the first time he had transported drugs.
Nika, of Walton Street, Walton on the Hill, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply cannabis. The court heard he was of previous good character apart from one caution. Sentencing, Judge Niclas Parry said: “You took a risk and you paid a heavy price. This was a very significant amount of drugs worth thousands and thousands of pounds and you travelled a very long way to collect them.
Nika was sentenced to 20 weeks’ imprisonment. Due to the time he has spent on remand, he will be released immediately.