Push it to the limit – Car dealer turned drug smuggler jailed

30 March 2020  

A Liverpool car dealer caught coming back into the UK with over £1m of cocaine hidden in his Subaru Impreza was sentenced to nine years in prison last month, after being unanimously found guilty by a jury at Canterbury Crown Court in less than an hour.

33-year old Abdullah Iqbal was stopped in the Eurotunnel UK zone in France. Border Force officers questioned him about a supposed trip to the Nürburgring, and then searched his car after noting apparent irregularities with the bumpers. They found 14 kilograms of cocaine secreted behind the front and rear bumpers.

Following his arrest, he told police that at various times during his trip to the German racing track  the car had been out of his sight. He was then released on bail

During his trial last month, the court head that he acquired the car, passport and Eurotunnel ticket only days before his trip, and the subsequent arrest on 11 September 2017. Mr Iqbal maintained that the drugs were planted, and that he had no idea they were there.

Prosecutors contended that he was lying about his trip, that instead he had gone to Rotterdam, and returned to Calais in less than 24 hours. Mr Iqbal’s phone contained photos of Jack’s Casino and Campanile Hotel, both in Rotterdam. Digital logs also showed he had used the Wi-Fi there.