15-year sentence for armed drug dealer

Thom Dyke successfully obtained convictions at the trial of a drug dealer caught with 15 kilograms of cannabis and two loaded firearms, resulting in a sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment.

On 24 July 2019, armed police executed a warrant at a block of flats in Acton.  They found Maurio Myftaraj at the door of a flat, attempting to leave the property.  Inside the flat they found 15 kilograms of cannabis in sealed vacuum bags, with a street value of nearly £160,000.  £9,000 in cash was found in a nearby room, together with 12 rounds of ammunition.  When police searched the loft, they found two loaded firearms – a Colt revolver and a Yugoslavian M57 self-loading pistol, fitted with a laser sight, together with more ammunition.

After a trial at Wood Green Crown Court, the jury convicted Myftaraj of possession of the firearms with intent to endanger life, possession of the cannabis with intent to supply, and possession of criminal property.

Myftaraj was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment by HH Judge David Aaronberg QC at Wood Green Crown Court which was conducted over Skype due to the current Covid-19 pandemic.  Passing sentence he said “the evidence is clear that this was a commercial drug dealing enterprise selling multi-kilo amounts to other drug dealers, with an expectation of a substantial financial gain…each of the firearms was a lethal weapon, loaded ready for use”.

Media coverage of the case can be found here: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/mauricio-myftaraj-deported-albanian-gangster-who-sneaked-back-into-uk-caught-with-two-loaded-guns-and-70-000-of-cannabis-pgdwv7gs0