ALBANIAN actor caught picking up cocaine on own dashcam - footage used to jail him

AN ALBANIAN actor turned drug supplier was filmed picking up cocaine from a garage by his own dashcam - with the footage (above) used to prosecute him.

Sokol Ajazi, 36, (pictured below in a police mugshot) of Hampden Square, Southgate, north London, was arrested on April 1 after detectives watched him carry a large plastic bag into a Mercedes driven by fellow Albanian Eduart Hadjini, 38, on Riverway N13, Enfield.

Officers followed the vehicle for a distance, before moving in to detain and then search it.

A National Crime Agency (NCA) spokesman said: "Using a crowbar, they accessed a special compartment concealed within the rear seats, which was found to contain the plastic bag. Inside it was a kilogram of cocaine."

Ajazi (above in a Starnow.co.uk promotional shot) has had parts in three feature films, including the 2016 movies The Contract and Una and the 2011 feature Mercenaries which starred Billy Zane.

According to Mandy.com, the characters he plays are "athletic, scruffy, tough and villainous."

Hadjini (below), of Openshaw Road, Abbey Wood, admitted that the hide was usually only accessible by turning the engine on and pressing a series of buttons.

Both were arrested on suspicion of supplying class A drugs with Hadjini further arrested in relation to an exchange of two kilos of cocaine that officers had observed the previous month. Thomas Scarrett, 28 from Bristol was arrested during the earlier exchange, and sentenced to six years in prison for drug supply offences on 13 April.

Investigators then searched Ajazi’s vehicle, which was parked a short walk away, finding another half kilogram of cocaine and £2000 in cash.

The spokesman added: "Footage recovered from Ajazi’s dash cam showed that he had collected the plastic bag from a garage in Mintern Close, Enfield, earlier on the day that he was caught passing it to Hadjini.

"Officers searched the garage, seizing three kilos more of cocaine. The combined 4.5kg of the drug recovered during the OCP operation could have fetched £360,000 if sold on UK streets."

Both men were charged with possession with intent to supply class A drugs and remanded in custody. They later pleaded guilty on April 2.

Hadjini and Ajazi appeared at Wood Green Crown Court yesterday, May 19, where they were sentenced to three years 10 months and five years two months respectively.

It was the latest prosecution against Albanian drug suppliers after the NCA said they had taken control of the cocaine trade in every UK city except Liverpool.

The operation was run by the Organised Crime Partnership (OCP), a joint initiative between the NCA and Metropolitan Police Service.

Matt McMillan OCP Operations Manager said “These men were seeking to make money through the cocaine trade, which directly drives violence and intimidation in London and around the country.

“The OCP works continuously to disrupt the supply of illegal drugs and hold those behind it to account. We are determined to keep people safe from criminality that brings fear to our communities.”