Bus stop drug dealer busted by undercover police after selling cocaine on busy main road
A convicted drug dealer who brazenly traded cocaine from a bus shelter outside his home is back behind bars after being busted again by police.
A court in Preston heard Faizan Khan was out of prison on licence for a previous drug conviction when plain clothes officers spotted him doing business on a busy main road just yards from his own front door.
The 35-year-old pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and possession of the drug with intent to supply.
Judge Richard Archer sent him to jail for 44 months – on top of the time he is now serving for his previous breach of licence – when Khan appeared before the city’s Crown Court for sentence.
The court was told that in August this year two police officers in an unmarked car were on patrol in Burnley monitoring drug activity when they turned into an affluent part of Colne Road and saw two men loitering at a bus stop close to the junction with Casterton Avenue.
They suspected they were drug users because of their appearance and kept them under surveillance.
Shortly after they witnessed a hand-to-hand exchange between one of the men and an Asian male. They followed the two men and arrested them.
When one was searched he admitted he had cocaine in his pocket which he had just bought from Khan. His phone also contained Khan’s number and messages relating to drugs.
The other man also admitted he had bought drugs at the bus stop. The latest message on his mobile read: “Outside bro.”
Other police attended the address by the bus stop and as they approached they saw a black object being thrown through an open window. It was later retrieved and found to be a phone.
Once inside the property they went upstairs and found a bedroom was locked. After trying to kick it in and finally gaining entry they found Khan and arrested him.
His response to police was: “I am good mate. Sound.” But when they asked him if there were any drugs in the house he replied: “Nowt, there’s nothing here.” Then he added: “Whatever you find is mine.”
A search of the property unearthed several mobile phones, £300 in cash, drug paraphernalia and a wrap of cocaine. In a plastic bag downstairs, they discovered almost 30 grams of cocaine with a purity of 83 per cent and with a street value of just under £2,500. The cocaine that had been seized from one of the men was worth around £200.
When interview later Khan gave “no comment” answers to all questions.
The court heard Khan had two previous convictions for seven offences including one of conspiracy to supply cannabis in November 2023 – as part of a major drug gang trading across East Lancashire - for which he was jailed for a total of six years and nine months.
Following his arrest for this latest offence Khan had been recalled to prison and was currently serving the remainder of that 81-month sentence when he appeared before Judge Archer.
The prosecution in the latest case argued he had played a significant role in the supply of cocaine, had expectation of a significant financial advantage from the operation and had a full understanding of the scale of it.
Lewis Hazeldine, defending, said his client “knows what he was doing was wrong”. But he explained he had come out of prison on licence from his previous sentence and, despite wanting to make a fresh start with his life, had found himself working again for drug bosses to pay off an old debt.
Judge Archer told Khan that the two users had contacted the drug line via their mobiles and had turned up at the bus shelter outside his address where “you had all the hallmarks of a drug dealer there”.
And he said it had been “made all the more serious” because he was on licence at the time for his previous drug conviction.
He added that Khan would be required to serve around 40 per cent of his latest 44-month sentence in custody before being considered for release. But because he had already been recalled for breaching his licence period it would be “a matter for the prison” how much longer he would be required to serve on top.