A father-of-four who was caught trafficking thousands of pounds worth of crack cocaine through Tayside has been jailed for more than four years.
Gerald Duffus and fellow drugs mule Ali Danesh were caught with bags of the class A drug in their boot when they were pulled over by police on the A90, near Inchture.
Duffus had agreed to take the drugs north to repay debts to a criminal gang in his home city of Birmingham.
Both men denied their involvement in the drugs trade but were convicted following a trial at Perth Sheriff Court.
Duffus, 26, of Kingsbury Road, was found guilty of being involved in the supply of cocaine and cannabis between January 19 2020, and April 26 2021.
Jurors also heard he was caught with a lock knife in the car.
The drugs recovered were valued at more than £7,400.
Duffus claimed he was not aware what he had got himself into.
He said tell-tale text messages found on a burner phone that linked him to months of drug dealing activity may have been put their by the phone’s previous owner.
‘Next level’ sentence
Jailing Duffus for 50 months, Sheriff William Wood told him: “These are serious charges, as I am sure you will appreciate.
“The value and weight of the drugs recovered is serious enough.
“But you were found guilty of being concerned in the supply of cocaine for a near 16-month period.
“That takes you to what might be described as the next level.
“This was not just a one-off.
“Only a significant jail sentence is appropriate.”
The sheriff added: “Any claim that you were naive in your involvement with drugs is not well founded.
“Quite clearly you were concerned in supply over a prolonged period.”
Debt repayment
Solicitor David Holmes, defending, told the court: “Mr Duffus’s position is that he didn’t understand fully what he was involved in.
“He does understand the difficulties that he is in today.
“From his perspective, he borrowed money which he wasn’t able to pay back.
“The persons who loaned him the money suggested he could repay the money in a different way.”
Danesh, of Bampfylde Place, will be sentenced in June.
He was found guilty of being involved in the supply of the class A drug on April 26 2021, the day his car was stopped.
The 33-year-old Uber Eats driver was also convicted of being concerned in the supply of cannabis on various occasions over the same 15-and-a-half month period.
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