Ilford man pleads guilty after firearm and drugs seizure worth £1m
Muhamet Qosja pled guilty to six charges following a drugs and firearm seizure in Ilford. - Credit: National Crime Agency
An Ilford man who said he sought out drug dealers to earn cash after coming into the UK illegally has pleaded guilty to six charges relating to possessing a firearm, ammunition, possession with intent to supply cocaine and money laundering.
Officers from the Organised Crime Partnership (OCP), a joint National Crime Agency (NCA) and Metropolitan Police service unit, arrested Muhamet Qosja, 29, after he was followed and stopped in his car in Melbourne Road.
A search of Qosja's home in Valentines Road led to the discovery of a handgun with 20 rounds of ammunition and cocaine hidden beneath a child's cot. - Credit: National Crime Agency
A search revealed £23,000 in cash was stored in a compartment behind the dashboard.
A further search of his home in Valentines Road led to the discovery of a handgun with 20 rounds of ammunition and five kilo blocks of cocaine hidden in bags beneath a child's cot.
Another six kilos of cocaine and drugs paraphernalia was found in laundry bags.
Five kilo blocks of cocaine bags were discovered in his home in Valentines Road as well as an additional six kilos of cocaine and drugs paraphernalia. - Credit: National Crime Agency
Yesterday at Snaresbrook Crown Court he pleaded guilty to the charges.
The drugs would be worth in the region of £1.1million if sold on the streets of the UK.
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Qosja told officers that he’d been living in the UK illegally since arriving from Albania in 2014 and he actively sought out work as a drug dealer, as he knew it "paid well".
He will be sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court on January 29.
Det Ch Insp Tony O’Sullivan from the OCP, said: “Qosja was illegally in the UK and was actively distributing class A drugs on behalf of an organised crime group, a proactive investigation by the OCP meant his illegal career was stopped and he now faces a custodial sentence.
“The dedicated work between NCA and Met officers has removed a dangerous firearm from circulation and a large quantity of class A drugs and cash making our streets safer for the public.”
