Luton man caught with kilo of cocaine in the back of a taxi

A man stopped by police with a kilo of cocaine in the back of a taxi has been jailed for more than four years.
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Thomas Large, 26, of Bute Street, Luton, was arrested after an intelligence-led operation by Bedfordshire Police detectives.

At around 3pm on Saturday, 20 April, Large took a taxi from Luton to Milton Keynes, where he picked up a package after visiting a block of flats.

Officers intercepted the taxi on Dunstable Road, Luton at around 5.30pm. Large was sitting in the back seat, with the drugs wrapped up in a carrier bag beside him.

Large was also found with £160 and two mobile phones in his possession. Further enquiries at his home address recovered more drugs as well as drug dealing paraphernalia.

Last month he pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply Class A drugs. Today (Friday) at Luton Crown Court, he was sentenced to four years and four months in prison.

Detective Inspector Graham McMillan said: “This was a thorough and professional operation by our officers, which has taken a significant quantity of cocaine off the streets.

“We know that drugs are inextricably linked to a wide variety of criminality and serious violence. Be it drugs gangs clashing over territory and burglars stealing to fund their addiction, through to major organised crime groups trafficking and exploiting children and vulnerable adults: drugs underpins all of this.

“That’s why it is so important we continue to address this threat and bring key players like Large to justice.”

Anyone with information about drugs activity should contact police on 101 or visit Bedfordshire Police’s online reporting centre.

All of these reports are fed into the force’s intelligence systems and can help officers tackle organised crime.

Alternatively you can contact Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.