Jail for Peterborough man found with 13kg of class A drugs worth nearly £1 million in car

A man found with nearly £1 million worth of class A drugs in his car has been jailed.

Usman Iftikhar, 28, was arrested on 7 February after officers from the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU) carried out a proactive stop of a car he was passenger in in Boongate.

On searching the car, officers found 11 kilograms of heroin and two kilograms of cocaine inside a “bag for life”– worth up to about £933,000 if sold in individual “street deals”.

The driver of the car, a man in his 20s, was also arrested but later released with no further action being taken against him.

Iftikhar, of Thistlemoor Road, central Peterborough, was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison at Cambridge Crown Court on Monday (June 20) after previously pleading guilty to possession with intent to supply heroin and cocaine.

Detective Inspector Mike Birch, from ERSOU, said: “The arrest of Iftikhar was possible thanks to our new operational crime team, which is dedicated to carrying out fast-time disruptions of serious and organised crime across the eastern region.

“The recovery of such a significant amount of both heroin and cocaine demonstrates the impact this team is having across the region and we’re really pleased to have been able to remove such a high quantity of class A drugs from circulation, while locking away a dangerous individual.

“We will be continuing to work with our forces and partners to clamp down on drug-related criminality, protecting our communities from the harm it causes.”