Cambridge man found with 18 bags of cocaine and more than £1,000 in cash near Ely jailed for almost three years

A 20-year-old man who was found with 18 bags of cocaine and more than £1,000 in cash hidden in a coffee cup has been jailed for almost three years.

On May 2 of this year, officers from the Sentinel Team stopped a Toyota Pirus, in Grunty Fen Road, Witchford, near Ely, which was first spotted in Suffolk.

The car was suspected to have been involved in the supply of drugs in both Newmarket and Cambridgeshire.

Officers searched the car and found 12 press seals bags of cocaine and £1,160 in cash, which was hidden in a coffee cup.

They also found a sock underneath the front bonnet of the car, which contained a further six press seal bags of cocaine.

The driver was arrested at the scene on suspicion of possession with intent to supply (PWITS) Class A drugs and taken to Bury St Edmunds Police Investigation Centre for questioning. Click here to watch the arrest.

Police also recovered a fraudulent driving licence and a quantity of cash from the suspect’s home address.

Denis Sylaj, of Arbury Road, Cambridge, was subsequently charged with PWITS Class A drugs (cocaine), driving a vehicle without third party insurance, driving otherwise than accordance with a licence and possession of a fraudulent driving licence.

Sylaj appeared before Ipswich Crown Court on Monday September 9.

He pleaded guilty to all charges and was sentenced to a total of 32 months’ imprisonment, disqualified from driving for 22 months, and forfeited £2,380 in cash and a mobile iPhone.