Elsae Driaj sentenced to two years and 10 months for driving offences and selling cocaine

Elsae Driaj, 28 from Cossington Road in Coventry, has been sentenced to two years and 10 months in prison for offences related to drug dealing and driving without insurance.

On 16 January 2024, officers from Warwickshire Road Policing Unit followed a car travelling along the A444 towards Nuneaton on the Griff Roundabout. 

The car had a marker for drug supply activity.

It eventually pulled over in the car park of a sports centre on Greenmoor Road, where officers prevented the vehicle from leaving. 

Inside the car were three people – Driaj, another male passenger, and a young child.

Driaj, who was at that time disqualified from driving, initially provided false details about himself to the officers.

When he was told he would be detained for a search and handcuffed, Driaj actively resisted and attempted to run away.

On Driaj’s person, officers found 102 bags of cocaine, £110 in cash, and two smartphones.

Inside the car a small amount of cannabis was found in the centre console, along with a further £125 cash.

Following Driaj’s arrest, a section 18 search was employed at Driaj’s home address, where more cannabis and several large canisters of nitrous oxide were discovered.

Driaj was asked where he had obtained the car. He said he had been told where to find it and that the cocaine had been sitting in the centre console ready to go.

Evidence from Driaj’s phone showed that he would receive a list of locations to visit, and a co-ordinator would tip him off if the police were sighted in certain locations.

On 18 March, Elsae Driaj was sentenced to 34 months in prison at Warwick Crown Court and is also required to pay a victims’ surcharge of £187 in total.

He was sentenced on charges of possession with intent to supply cocaine, possession of cannabis, possession of nitrous oxide canisters (now a class C drug), being concerned in the supply of cocaine, driving whilst disqualified, and driving without insurance.

DC Gordon said “Driaj is the tip of a criminal network which inevitably surrounds the sale of cocaine – a substance soaked in misery and blood from its production in the tropics to its arrival and distribution in the UK.

“His sentence is reflective of his involvement with this level of criminal activity, and we hope it serves as a warning to anyone involved or seeking involvement with the illicit drug trade.”