Man jailed after £30,000 worth of cocaine is found by police in boot of London minicab

A man has been jailed after he was found with about £30,000 worth of cocaine in the boot of a private hire vehicle he was travelling in following a proactive police stop in east London.

Appearing at Wood Green Crown Court on Monday, 27 April, Perry Rickenberg, 23, was sentenced to four years and eight months’ imprisonment for possession with intent to supply class A drugs following a proactive stop by Met officers on the A13 dual carriageway.

He was also sentenced for possession of a class B drug (cannabis) with intent to supply, acquiring criminal property and possession of a prohibited weapon (CS spray). All sentences are to run concurrently, meaning he will serve a total of four years and eight months.

Detective Inspector Glenn Butler, from Specialist Crime, said: “Being sentenced to more than four years in prison is an excellent result and shows just how seriously drugs offences are taken by the courts.

“Although this arrest was made before Coronavirus struck, my team and all others across the Met are still going out on proactive, intelligence-led jobs to arrest those involved in criminality and drugs supply. The public can be rest assured that it is still business as usual for us and criminals will continue to be arrested for breaking the law.”

On Tuesday 2 September 2019, officers from the Met’s Specialist Crime team received intelligence that Rickenberg was in possession of a large quantity of cocaine.

Rickenberg was a passenger in a private hire vehicle when officers stopped the car on the A13 dual carriageway, RM13. When the vehicle pulled over, officers saw Rickenberg throw an item into the boot area, which was recorded on body worn video.

Both the driver and Rickenberg were detained whilst a search of the vehicle was carried out.

When officers searched the boot, they found a plastic bag which contained a kilogram of cocaine, with a street value of approximately £30,000.

Due to the find, both males were arrested at the scene. Rickenberg was arrested for possession with intent to supply class A drugs, while the driver was arrested for conspiracy to supply class A drugs.

Both men were taken to a north London police station.

A search was authorised for Rickenberg’s address in E1. During the search, officers found further amounts of class A drugs, drug paraphernalia (including scales), two expensive watches (including a Rolex), CS spray and more than £10,000 in cash.

Rickenberg was charged and remanded on Thursday 4 September with possession with intent to supply class A drugs and money laundering. The prohibited weapon charge was added to the indictment later once it was examined by the lab.

He appeared at Wood Green Crown Court on Thursday 14 November 2019 where he pleaded guilty.

The private hire driver was released under investigation, but later charged on Sunday 19 April 2020 with a number of drug offences.

Image credits: Met Police