A DRUGS “courier” found with more than £40,000 worth of heroin and cocaine at his Bradford home has been jailed for four years.

Bilal Khan, 25, was awoken by officers from the West Yorkshire Police Homicide and Major Enquiries Team at his home in Gibson Street, Laisterdyke, on October 14 last year.

Prosecutor Stephen Wood told Bradford Crown Court that Khan was wanted for questioning on a non-drugs related matter, but when officers searched a Vauxhall Astra parked outside the property, they found drugs hidden under the seats.

In total, police recovered four packs of heroin, totalling around 731g, a 69.9g bag of crack cocaine, 499g of cannabis resin, and 19 individual packs of cannabis. The estimated street value of the heroin was £35,000, with the total amount of drugs valued at more than £41,000.

In a second car – a Mercedes – officers found a bag containing less than 10g of cannabis that Khan, a cocaine addict, said was for personal use. Two bundles of cash amounting to £2,590 were also recovered from a wardrobe in Khan’s bedroom which Mr Wood described as the “proceeds of dealing”.

“The quality and quantity of the drugs in his (Khan’s) possession must indicate that he was close to the original source.

“He was not a street-dealer – his role was as a custodian or courier. If the defendant was addicted to Class A drugs he must have been really trusted not to help himself.”

Khan pleaded guilty to three charges of possessing Class A and B drugs with intent to supply, possession of criminal property, and possession of cannabis.

A probation report described him as a “very foolish young man” who had built up debts of around £2,500 due to his cocaine habit, leading to him being pressurised into offending.

In mitigation, Paul Hodgkinson said Khan had played a lesser role in the drugs operation, having “no influence on those above him in the chain”.

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Judge Colin Burn said Khan had “fallen victim” to his drug debt and the pressure to involve himself in the trade.

He said: “You were the custodian of significant quantities of insidious, nasty Class A drugs. You will have known when you were agreeing to look after them that you were spreading the misery beyond yourself.

“It is clear you knew this was not some kind of tin-pot operation. It is clear you knew what was going on.”