AN UNEMPLOYED man from Dewsbury Moor who acted as a courier for nearly five kilos of heroin was jailed for four years.
Balal Khan, 37, was driving to Blackburn with the drugs in the boot of a silver Mercedes when he was stopped by police.
Officers who pulled Khan over in Bradford in April found a sports bag with 4.97 kilos of heroin inside.
Bradford Crown Court was told the drugs had a street value of about £248,000.
Conor Quinn, prosecuting, said Khan, of Pilgrim Crescent, Dewsbury Moor, told police he thought the drugs were cannabis.
He was offered £200 to deliver them and agreed to do so because he was out of work.
Khan, who admitted possessing heroin with intent to supply, put a postcode taped to the sports bag into the car’s sat-nav.
Barrister Mohammed Nawaz, for Khan, said his client had no previous convictions.
Khan took part in the hearing via videolink from Leeds Prison, knowing he would face a significant prison sentence.
And he was there instead of being with his wife and young children for Eid celebrations.
Mr Nawaz said Khan’s offending was a source of great shame and acute embarrassment for his client.
He added: “He knows this amount of heroin would have caused untold damage and misery.
“In hindsight he now sees that and expresses through me real remorse for his actions.
“For a few weeks prior to this offence he had been out of work and unable to find gainful employment and he was tempted to act as a courier.
“Frankly, he knows that no amount of money should have tempted him to transport these serious drugs.”
Judge Jonathan Rose accepted that Khan is generally a decent man.
But, he said, those involved in transporting drugs are “vital cogs” in operations which cause death, misery and untold amounts of crime.
