A major police surveillance operation aimed at bringing down a drugs gang has snared its first target.
The Crown had, however, alleged that he was an active member of a criminal drug gang that had been the subject of a significant and long-standing surveillance operation.
Solicitor John McLaughlin told the court: “These drugs gangs have significant finances at their disposal and are sophisticated in their methods.
“The court has also heard evidence that those involved in this operation were Chinese nationals who speak little English.
“Mr Hayat is a Pakistani taxi driver from Wales who speaks no Chinese, who had a satellite navigation system that did not work and who got lost while travelling through Scotland.
“Is he really a valued gang member or is he simply a taxi driver and was this just the worst, the most ill-advised, the most bizarre fare that he has ever taken?”
The solicitor added that surveillance and lengthy police investigations only showed one instance of his client having contact with those being watched.
Jiajie He (30) described as a prisoner at Perth and Khizar Hayat (41) of Taff Embankment, Cardiff, South Glamorgan, Wales, both faced the same charge.
The Crown alleged that between January 22 2011 and February 20 2011, in a number of locations in Cardiff; in the course of a journey between Cardiff and Wick; at the Norseman Hotel, Riverside, Wick; at an address in Own Place, Wick and then in the course of a journey between Wick and The
Triangle Service Station in Dunkeld Road, Perth, at the station and elsewhere in Cardiff, Wick and the UK, they were concerned in the supply of the class B drug cannabis.
A jury of nine men and six women found Hayat not guilty of the charge. Co-accused He was found guilty by a majority verdict but with the dates limited to February 19 and 20 and will be sentenced at a later date.
Chinese national Jiajie He was convicted of being concerned in the supply of almost £74,000 worth of cannabis following a trial at Perth Sheriff Court.
The case had also seen charges brought against a Welsh taxi driver who had driven from Cardiff to Wick to pick up He and two suitcases crammed with drugs.
But a jury delivered a majority not guilty verdict in favour of Khizar Hayat.
Police officers swooped on them as they pulled into a service station in Perth earlier this year, with the officers discovering two vacuum packed bags of the class B drug in suitcases sitting on the passenger seats of their hired Ford Focus car.
The court was told the drugs were “damp” and weighed 59 kilos but when reduced to “dry, useable cannabis bud” would have weighed-in at 14.7 kilos with a maximum illicit value of £73,750.
The bust was the culmination of a lengthy and detailed operation that had seen officers target a drug gang operating in Wick and from what was described as a “disused aerodrome” on the outskirts of the town.
A number of Chinese nationals were believed to have been involved in the production and distribution of the drug throughout the UK.
During evidence, the court was told that Hyatt, a taxi driver in Cardiff, had been offered a fare to complete a 1,300-mile round trip.
The court was told Hayat had been paid £1,000 for the trip, which with hire of the car, petrol and an overnight stay would result in his gaining a little less than £500 for his 24 hours of driving.
Having met co-accused He in Wick, the court was told that officers had observed as he drove the Chinese national to a house in the town where the suitcases containing the drugs were carried out by three other Chinese men.
During the trial, Hayat said he was simply hired to drive from Cardiff to Wick and then back again, picking up a passenger in Scotland.
He denied playing any role in the drugs trade and said he had no idea the luggage he was transporting contained an illegal substance.
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