Rumbled dealers hurled £50,000 of high-purity cocaine from Wakefield flat window as officers closed in

Acting on a tip-off, immigration official attended the flat on Rivermead in Wakefield on July 3, hoping to find illegal immigrants. But as they entered the property a hand was seen reaching out of up an upstairs window and drop a bag onto the floor outside.

Inside it contained 507 grammes of cocaine, which was 90 per cent pure. The bag also contained scales and dealer bags, Leeds Crown Court heard. Two men – Aliver Gosturani and

Besard Tabaku – were found inside the flat and arrested, along with Gosturani’s female partner.

The shared flat saw Gosturani and his partner in one bedroom, and Tabaku living in the second – from which the drugs had been thrown. A further search unearthed more high-purity cocaine worth over £30,000 in Gosturani’s wardrobe.

The total weight of cocaine came to 841 grammes, while more than £11,000 in cash was also found between the bedrooms. Gosturani gave no comments during his police interview, but Tabaku said the money was from work, and claimed to know nothing about the drugs. This was despite his finger prints being found on the dropped bag.

Both defendants, who are Albanian and were in the UK illegally, later admitted dealing cocaine, and possession of criminal cash. No evidence was offered against the arrested female and the case dropped.

Mitigating for 28-year-old Gosturani, Lydia Carroll said he had been working in “odd jobs” in construction and car washes but had accrued a debt with gangsters who put pressure on him to store the drugs. Miss Carroll said: “He knew it was illegal but he was so afraid of the pressure.”

This was quickly rebutted by Judge Tom Bayliss KC, who said given the amount of cash found, her would not accept that basis.

For 23-year-old Tabaku, Imran Khan said it had cost him £22,000 for traffickers to help him enter the country illegally, but with hopes of finding work to support his family back in Albania. He said: “He knew it was illegal but he needed the money. He was being pressured for a return on the £22,000 he owed. There's no further evidence on phones or suggestion that he was dealing, he was simply acting as a custodian.

"He wants to return to Albania (after being released). He knows it was a mistake and knows he must pay for that mistake.”

Judge Bayliss accepted that Gosturani “made no attempt to minimise” his involvement but said Tabaku had tried to put forward a basis of plea in an attempt to reduce his part, but which was later withdrawn.

Ordering them to stand, he told the pair: “There are suggestions that you were under pressure but I find that completely implausible. You were warehousing these drugs for significant financial gain. It was very high-purity cocaine indeed.

"It’s clear to me that both of you were making significant amounts of money. Whether it was warehousing or some other activity, it does not matter really.”

He jailed Gosturani for six years and Tabaku for six year and six months.