Dealer jailed after running from £430,000 cannabis haul

Asllani running from the van

A drug dealer tried and failed to outrun the police as he was caught in possession of more than £400,000 worth of cannabis.

Shyqyri Asllani, aged 29, was driving a van on the A453, near Ratcliffe-on-Soar on Thursday 18 April this year when he was spotted by police and pulled over.

Asllani immediately fled the vehicle and ran across nearby farmland in a bid to get away, but was soon chased down and arrested.

The reason for his attempted escape soon became clear as more than 40kg of cannabis was found in back.

The three large bags, with a street value of around £430,000, had recently been processed and were being moved for onward supply.

Asllani admitted to driving the van but said he was merely a courier who’d been paid to take the packages to another location.

He later pleaded guilty to possessing Class B drugs with intent to supply and driving without insurance.

Asllani, of no fixed address, appeared at Nottingham Crown Court on Thursday, and was jailed for two years.

Another man, 19-year-old Leonid Sade, of Alma Road, Enfield, also pleaded guilty to possessing Class B drugs with intent to supply and was given a 15 month custodial order suspended for two years.

Sade had been the front seat passenger when the vas was stopped.

Detective Constable Sarah Kirk, of Nottinghamshire Police, said:

“Asllani was initially pulled over because the van he was driving had been linked to a fuel theft.

“The speed of his exit, however, suggested something a lot more serious and our officers soon discovered what that was.

“This was a very large quantity of drugs and I am pleased they have now been taken off the streets.”