Drug dealer goes back to jail

Van salesman Paul Miles, 49, of Bancroft Road, was trapped at a deserted motorway junction as he met an accomplice to hand over 257,000 of criminal cash.

Revenue and Customs officers kept track of Miles after he finished a six-year cannabis supply sentence.

The money-laundering meeting, on August 29, 2006, came just nine months after his release.

Miles was jailed for three years at Croydon Crown Court on Friday (July 9).

Partner in crime Neerav Lashand, a foreign currency trader from Hertfordshire, was given three years and four months at the same time - the day of his 34th birthday.

The court heard Miles drove his white van containing the cash to a meeting with Lashand '“ managing director of Trade FX Ltd, Slough - at junction 20 of the M25 in Hertfordshire.

Prosecutor Christopher Kerr said Lashand arrived in a Mercedes to the clandestine rendezvous set up through text messages sent by an unknown third party.

"Lashand had come to collect the cash," said Mr Kerr. "He ran a money exchange bureau and regularly handled large sums."

Judge Timothy Stow QC told Lashand he was intending to misuse his expertise in transferring money abroad.

Unaware they were being watched as part of a larger sting dubbed Operation Clawed, the two men began the deal before customs officers swooped, seizing a cardboard box containing plastic bags, covered in Miles's fingerprints, stuffed with the cash.