Romanian cocaine courier jailed for 18 months
A Romainian immigrant with expertise in computers and languages who came to Scotland to find work has been jailed for eighteen months at Dingwall Sheriff Court for being concerned in the supply of cocaine.
Andrei-Mihai Balauta (29) became involved in the illicit drugs trade when he met a man on a bus north to Inverness.
He booked into a guest house in Midmills Road then was spotted by undercover cops handing over a Pringles crisp box containing cocaine with a potential street value of £21,000 to another man.
Both had been observed together at Farraline Bus station with the third man Balauta had met on the bus.
At an earlier hearing Sheriff Andrew Miller was told how Balauta was snared by cops who had been watching his movements from the time he disembarked from the Megabus from England in Inverness city centre at Farraline Park.
Police were observing another individual, who cannot be named for legal reasons, at the time Balauta’s bus pulled in with his travelling companion.
The three men went into a communal entrance at Farraline Court and Balauta and the man he came off the bus with later went to a bed and guest house in Midmills Road.
About 3.45pm on the same day Balauta was seen leaving the guest house and handing over a tub containing 13 pellets containing 105.3 grammes of cocaine to the man police had been observing at the bus station.
Both were arrested and the fiscal said £3,000 in cash was found in Balauta’s room on top of a wardrobe and under a towel. A further £520 in £20 notes was found in a wallet and 30 Euros.
Balauta (29) described as a Prison in Edinburgh admitted on December 7 last year in Midmills Road being concerned in the supply of cocaine.
Sentence had been deferred until Thursday for background reports on Balauta who had been remanded in custody.
His solicitor George Mathers said Balauta was qualified in IT and had hoped to find work in that field or tourism in Scotland because he was an accomplished linguist with good English and he also spoke Spanish and Italian.
He asked the court to accept that he became involved in the drug trafficking by chance after meeting the man on the bus.
“He knew they were drugs but had no idea of the nature or the value of the drugs.”
Mr Mathers said he accepted the street value was potentially £21,000 if broken down into one gramme deals. But the solicitor said that would never happen.
“He did his friend a favour. The drugs had only been in his possession for a few minutes before handing it over from A to B. There was no financial gain for him," he said.
“As soon as he is released from custody he will returning home to be with his family and to work in his father’s vegetable shop in Romania."
Sheriff Miller said he had taken into account everything said on Balauta’s behalf and accepted that his involvement was brief and over a short piece of time.
But the sheriff said he knew the contents of the tub were suspicious and although no previous convictions were libelled, being concerned in the supply of drugs was a serious matter.
“Cocaine is a Class A drug of considerable value and the court must take a serious view of this offence," said the sheriff.
Jailing him for 18 months, the sheriff told Balauta it would have been two years but for his guilty plea. The sentence was backdated to December 9 when he was remanded.
http://www.ross-shirejournal.co.uk/N...s-11042014.htm
No mention of deporting this filth after he's served his sentence
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