Mariglen Malaj, a 26-year-old asylum seeker from Albania, has been sentenced to nearly three years in prison for operating a cocaine distribution network in Rugeley, Staffordshire. Undercover police officers apprehended him on December 3 last year after observing him supply drugs in a local alleyway.
Crown prosecutor Adam Watkins detailed how Malaj was found carrying £1,000 in cash, two wraps of cocaine, and two mobile phones, which he refused to unlock for police. A subsequent search of a flat linked to him uncovered 27 additional cocaine wraps, £1,500 in cash, a Barclays bank card, and his Albanian driving license. The seized drugs were valued at up to £1,500 on the street.
Malaj revealed to authorities that he was in the UK illegally and unable to work. According to the prosecution, he claimed friends connected to the operation provided him with accommodation, phones, and drugs to sell but said he did not make any financial gain from the activity.
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Defence counsel Mark Moore highlighted that Malaj’s asylum application remains pending and that he has no prior convictions, emphasizing his desire to remain in the UK. Recorder Michelle Brown acknowledged there was some direction from others in the drug line’s operations but noted contradictions in Malaj’s claims about homelessness and living arrangements.
Initially denying charges of possession with intent to supply and possession of criminal property, Malaj pleaded guilty to both offenses in March. He was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison, with an additional one-month sentence to run concurrently. The judge advised Malaj that he would serve half his sentence before release but warned of automatic deportation due to his immigration status.