Man wanders across Gatwick railway tracks with bag full of heroin

A man casually wandered across a busy railway line at Gatwick armed with over 100 grams of "unusually pure heroin," British Transport Police said.

Babar Shahabi, 53, was spotted trespassing by station staff who called police after he walked from platform to platform.

When officers arrived they described Shahabi as "incoherent" and looked through is bag to identify him where they found bags of beige powder.

"Shahabi’s incredibly dangerous actions at Gatwick resulted in a large haul of dangerous drugs out of circulation, him severely out of pocket and facing a substantial prison sentence," said Detective Inspector Graham Moss.

"The events of the day could easily have ended in tragedy however and I am thankful to the members of rail staff who intervened as he casually strolled across the tracks at a busy train station.

"As Mr Shahabi now realises using the railway network to move drugs is never a good idea, because you will get caught.

"We have specialist teams on trains and at stations across the whole network tackling drug supply seven days a week," Detective Inspector Graham Moss added.

Officers arrested Shahabi on suspicion of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs. 

In a police interview Shahabi denied being at Gatwick and claimed he fell asleep on a friend’s sofa the night before and woke up at the police station.

A jury found Shahabi guilty of possessing the heroin with the intent to supply it and he was sentenced to five years in prison.