Romanian ex-gangster and drugs courier caught with 4kg of cannabis worth £5,000 in BMW boot jailed
Cosmin Cariga's car was pulled over in Sunderland last November and officers were instantly struck by the smell of cannabis.
Cariga, who has served time in Germany and Romania for precuring a woman to be a prostitute and sexual exploitation trafficking, immediately told officers to "put handcuffs on" but insisted the drugs in the boot, worth up to £5,040, did not belong to him.
He tried to justify his involvement by saying that although he had entered the UK legally, he was not able to work. At Newcastle Crown Court the 46-year-old, of Lavers Road, Birtley, Gateshead, admitted being concerned in the supply of cannabis on the basis he was a low level courier of the illegal haul.
However, when Cariga's phone was examined it contained images of a "substantial" cannabis farm and someone handling a harvested crop of the drug. Prosecutor Kevin Wardlaw said:" Given the images recovered from his mobile phone and given his previous convictions of organised crime, the Crown simply would not accept this man was just a courier.
"He may have been couriering the cannabis on this date but he is not just a courier."
Matthew Hopkins, defending, said Cariga entered the UK lawfully but when the country left the EU he failed to complete the required documents for him to legally remain or work. Mr Hopkins said Cariga has previously worked as a chef and has two children who he helps look after.
Miss Recorder Felicity Davies sentenced Cariga to 12 months behind bars. The recorder said Cariga was given a ten year sentence in Romania and probation officials here have assessed him as having a "sense of entitlement and lack of remorse or regret".
Recorder Davies told him: "It is your own fault you are in the position where you are not permitted to work, nobody else's, you should have complied with the law."