A DRUG dealer who stashed nearly £200,000 worth of heroin and opium in hollowed-out books has been jailed, thanks to the sharp senses of a customs dog.
Fateh Singh, 29, of Chesnut Close, West Drayton came to the attention of police when a detection dog at Heathrow Worldwide Distribution Centre, in Langley, sniffed out a parcel from India addressed to Singh on November 28 last year.
The package contained magazines concealing 280 grams of opium.
On December 4, police searched Singh’s home and found more drugs, with an estimated street value of just under £200,000, hidden inside hardbacks with hacked out pages.
Fateh was not in the property at the time, and a lorry of his was found abandoned on the A40 near the Polish War Memorial, in Ruislip, later that day.
On December 5, detectives found him in a cafe in Bath Road, Cranford. Singh made a futile effort to escape but officers arrested him.
He denied involvement when first interviewed but later admitted possession of class A drugs with intent to supply when appearing in the dock, and was sentenced to 28 months in jail at Isleworth Crown Court on Friday, March 1.
Steven Rowe, Border Force senior officer at the distribution centre, said: “We have staff based at postal hubs as well as at ports and airports working around the clock to stop criminals like Mr Singh bringing illegal drugs and other contraband into the UK.”
