A CONVICTED drug trafficker caught peddling 40 wraps of crack cocaine and heroin from an Audi A1 has been jailed for three years.

Mohammed Ilyas, 23, was spotted by the police dropping part of his stash after they stopped the car in Harrogate Road, Bradford, at 6.30pm on February 11 last year.

Ilyas, of Thornbury Avenue, Thornbury, Bradford, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply crack cocaine and heroin and simple possession of cannabis.

Prosecutor Graham O’Sullivan told Bradford Crown Court on Wednesday that officers on patrol followed the Audi after it was involved in an “incident.”

When the car was pulled over, Ilyas, a rear seat passenger, got out, dropping 1.72 grams of crack cocaine in 20 deals worth £129.

Also seized from the vehicle was a bag containing 20 deals of heroin, of 28 per cent purity, worth £200.

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Ilyas was also in possession of skunk cannabis and a grinder, Mr O’Sullivan said.

A further bag of cannabis was found in the driver’s door pocket of the Audi.

Ilyas made no comment when he was interviewed by the police.

The court heard that the female driver and two male passengers were arrested and questioned but no further action was taken against any of them.

Ilyas had 17 previous convictions, including serving a sentence of more than four years in a young offender institution when he was 16 for a series of violent robberies.

In 2016, he was jailed for three years for possession of heroin and cocaine with intent to supply.

He was on licence when he committed the latest offences, the court was told, although he was not recalled to prison.

Ilyas’s barrister, Shufqat Khan, said his client was using cannabis at the time. He could not afford the drug because he was out of work so he ended up owing money to those more criminally sophisticated.

Ilyas agreed to pay off his debt to the dealers by selling Class A drugs on the street.

He performed a limited function under direction, Mr Khan said.

Ilyas was easily led, being expelled from school at 14 and gaining no qualifications.

By the time he was 16, he was serving the lengthy sentence for the robberies.

“He went down the wrong path in life. He is easily led astray. He goes with the flow,” Mr Khan said.

He was with others when he committed the robberies and his previous conviction for drug peddling was similar to the one he now faced.

“He is still only 23. Young enough to make changes,” Mr Khan told the court.

Ilyas was on bail for 15 months after the previous drug dealing offence and he had kept out of trouble.

“This is a really big step forward for him,” Mr Khan said.

He had been doing voluntary and part-time work and his parents were keeping a close eye on him.

“He is sorry for what he has done and he knows it is an inevitable custodial sentence,” Mr Khan said.

Recorder Paul Reid warned Ilyas that a third conviction for Class A drug dealing would mean a minimum seven year prison sentence.