A Birmingham taxi driver who was a "trusted courier" in a drug smuggling racket has been jailed - after £400,000-worth of cocaine was found behind the passenger seat.

Tanzeel Rehman was returning from a trip to Luton with a consignment of high-purity cocaine when he was stopped as he left the M6 at Castle Bromwich.

National Crime Agency officers who had been monitoring his journey found four one-kilo blocks of cocaine, with a purity of 98 per cent, behind the passenger seat.

No figure was given during Rehman’s hearing but other recent cases suggest the drug could have been worth at least £400,000 once it had been divided into street deals.

Rehman, 24, of Kemp Road, Stechford, was jailed for four-and-a-half years after pleading guilty at Warwick Crown Court to possessing cocaine with intent to supply it.

Simon Burch, prosecuting, said four individual wraps of cocaine, for Rehman's use, were also found in a tin in the driver's door.

Warwick Crown Court heard traffic cameras showed Rehman had driven to Luton and meet someone in another car, which was "clearly where an exchange took place".

Simon Burch, prosecuting, said Rehman, who had no previous convictions, then immediately set off to drive back to the Midlands.

He added: “We are unable to prove anything other than that the defendant was a courier.”

Rehman's taxi was stopped at junction 5 of the M6.

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