West London minicab drivers found guilty of drug smuggling

Two minicab drivers from West London have been found guilty of smuggling drugs from London to Plymouth over an eighteen month period. Sunder Ahuja, from Southall, and Abdul Shirzad, of Hounslow, transported the class B drugs for Tam Tran, a Vietnamese "businessman" of no fixed address, between October 31 2015 and June 22 2017. It's reported in getwestlondon that they were hired for a total of "48" round trips. Ahuja told a jury at Plymouth Crown Court that he thought Mr Tran was a "legitimate" business man, but was later unanimously convicted of conspiracy to supply a class B drug. Ahuja, who was working for Hounslow based minicab firm, Aircall, said he took up Mr Trans "big job" offer privately so that he didn't have to pay the 20% commission to the minicab operators.

Mr Shirzad told the jury he thought the bags he was transporting were filled with mobile phone accessories from China. Shirzad said he was paid £350 for each round trip. Shirzad told the jury that he now works for ride-sharing app, Uber, but previously worked for another company called, Sunshine, with a Mr Amrik Lamba, who had already pleaded guilty after police found the Vietnamese drug dealer in the back of his minicab with £52,600 in cash at his feet. Both Sunder Ahuja and Abdul Shirzad have been granted conditional bail pending their sentencing hearing which will take place on January 15 2018.