South Cumbria drug courier found with £20k of cocaine in a sock

A South Cumbria cocaine courier caught with £20,000 of cocaine which had been stashed inside a white sock has been jailed for two years.

Xhoni Doka, 26, was stopped on 6th April by police as he drove a Mercedes on the A590 westbound close to Junction 36 of the M6. He was alone in the vehicle and seemed “nervous” when officers spoke to him, Carlisle Crown Court heard.

Doka said personal belongings on the back seat which suggested a house move were his, and that there was “nothing else” in the car. That aroused the suspicions of police, who were told by the driver how a friend had suggested he should live and work in Barrow, and that he was moving to property in the town.

During a search of the Mercedes, two bags of cocaine — total weight 250g — were found stashed in a white sock inside a fragrance box. Other amounts took the total haul to 272g.

When an address in Barrow was searched, silver weighing scales bearing traces of cocaine were seized along with small snap bags and a £2,000 bundle of cash from the pocket of a hoodie. The defendant had refused to provide the PIN for an iPhone after being arrested, the court heard, and claimed the cash comprised “savings”.

Doka, of Westcliff-on-Sea, Southend-on-Sea, later admitted possessing cocaine with intent to supply.

This was on the basis that he had been asked by a friend he would name only as “Ronaldo” — for fear of repercussions — to transport what he thought was only 50g of cocaine from Southend to Barrow.

“I initially refused as I had never done anything like that and didn’t want to be involved,” Doka had stated. “On the day of my arrest, upon collecting all my belongings from my property in Southend, Ronaldo demanded I take cocaine to Barrow for him. He had previously helped me a number of times and lent me money when I needed it. I felt obliged and pressured into taking the cocaine.”

He did not receive payment for the illegal errand.

Doka was an “extremely hard-working” man of previous good character, said his barrister, Kim Obrusik, who added: “He has now spent his first time in custody (on remand) in his life. He has been in custody for some months.

Jailing Doka, Recorder Tony Hawks said: “People who involve themselves in the transportation of class A drugs have to expect immediate sentences of custody.”

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