An Albanian man trafficked to the UK illegally was caught transporting cannabis worth up to £42,500 around Tyneside.
Pjerin Lleshi was behind the wheel of a black Audi on Ponteland Road, Newcastle, at 8.40pm on July 3 this year. The car flagged up on a police system as having links to criminal offences so officers pulled it over.
Lleshi got out of the driver's side and tried to run off but was caught after a foot chase. In the boot of the car, officers found two large bags for life, which contained several big vacuum packs of cannabis and a Nokia phone. When he was arrested, Lleshi said: "I was only driving".
