A drug dealer caught with more than £3,500 of cash claimed he was delivering the money to his girlfriend for safekeeping.
Arbjan Vata was driving without insurance when he was pulled over in Nuthall Road, Nottingham, on the evening of Thursday 5 September 2024.
Officers immediately spotted an open bag of cash and arrested him on suspicion of being in possession of criminal property.
Two mobile phones, empty deal bags and additional cash were later recovered from the vehicle.
Vata told officers he’d earned the money working in a car wash and was in the process of delivering it to his girlfriend for safe-keeping.
Further investigation of his mobile phones, however, showed Vata, identifiable from his tattoos, posing with large quantities of cash, cannabis and what is believed to be cocaine.
At the time of his arrest in Nottingham, Vata was already under investigation for similar offences after being pulled over in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, on 12 June.
On that occasion he was found to be in possession of ten deal bags of cocaine and £135 in cash.
Vata, aged 19, of Hedge Lane, Southgate, Enfield, later pleaded guilty to:
- being concerned in the supply of class A drugs
- being concerned in the supply of class B drugs
- possessing criminal property
- possessing a class A drug with intent to supply
- driving whilst disqualified
Appearing at Nottingham Crown Court on 28 August he was locked up for five years and seven months.
Vata said he had been forced to work for unknown men, and that the money he was found in possession of was not his.
PC Paul Pugsley, of Nottinghamshire Police, said:
“Vata is a brazen offender who was caught plying his illegal trade in Nottingham whilst on bail for similar offences committed elsewhere.
“His excuse for having so much cash on him was flimsy at best and was called into further question by the damning evidence we found on his mobile phone.
“As he has discovered to his cost, we are working hard in Nottinghamshire to make our roads as unattractive as possible to criminals.”
