An Albanian illegal immigrant, who was deported last year, managed to sneak back into the UK on a dinghy and was nabbed dealing drugs for a second time.
Valentin Roci, 27, confessed to Basildon Crown Court that he had re-entered the UK on a dinghy after being arrested and deported in 2024.
He claimed he was forced to peddle drugs to pay off a £4,000 debt to the smuggling gang.
However, Judge Shane Collery KC dismissed Roci’s claims as the Albanian had already been caught with drugs a year prior.
The judge ordered the drug-dealer be deported for a second time and the cash he was carrying be donated to charity.
Prosecutor Philippa Page revealed that Roci was apprehended by police on March 21, when they pulled over a Ford Mondeo with a faulty brake light in Southend, Essex.
Roci was behind the wheel, but was not the insured driver.
Mrs Page noted that organised crime gangs in Essex are known to insure cars under false names, and “the defendant kept trying to touch his groin, and the officer suspected that he could be concealing drugs.”
Upon searching Roci, police discovered he had £1,195, eight wraps of cocaine and one wrap of cannabis.
Following his arrest, he remained tight-lipped, answering “no comment” to all police questions and refusing to provide his address or the pin code to his phone.
Mrs Page added: “There’s not a great deal of evidence to show where in a drugs supply pecking order he was.”
He eventually admitted to charges of possessing cocaine with intent to supply, possessing cannabis, possessing criminal property (the cash), driving without insurance and driving without a licence.
Mrs Page informed the court that Roci had been nicked in 2024 for possessing drugs with intent to supply and for illegal entry into the country.
The drug case was dropped as the authorities decided to simply deport him.
The prosecutor added: “It appears he has returned to the country and entered illegally.”
Defence solicitor Olivia Rawlings stated: “Mr Roci came here in a dinghy and that generated a debt of £4,000 to the people who got him here.
“My instructions are that he owed a debt to those who brought him into this country and they then put him into work.”
However, Judge Collery responded: “I’m not convinced by that.
“He’s been out of the country once before and has come back in. He’s got a car and he’s got £1,195.
“It feels more like somebody who is doing this for money, frankly.”
Mrs Rawlings said Mr Roci had told her his cut of the money he was carrying was only £200.
She stated: “He would have handed over the rest. He would be told what drugs to drop where.”
Judge Collery said he would sentence Roci on the basis that he had a significant role in the drug-dealing gang.
The judge stated: “You have the notable and slightly unusual feature that you were deported last year because they found you in possession of drugs.
“They chose to deport you in preference. That was April – and plainly, within months, you were back in the UK..
“That suggests that there is a strong economic reason that is drawing you back to the country.
“I don’t accept, necessarily, that you came here and were working off a debt. There’s not a shred of evidence to support that.”
Had Roci provided his phone pin to police, said the judge, the officers might have discovered messages giving him instructions on what to deliver where, indicating a lesser role.
He sentenced Roci to 30 months behind bars and said he would be deported after serving his sentence.
Judge Collery added: “I recommend that you are deported.
“It is plainly not conducive to the public good to have you in this country.”
He ordered that the £1,195 seized from Roci be donated to the Essex Community Foundation and the car Roci was driving be retained by the police.
