A postal worker who made more than £1.2 million from drugs he took from parcels has been jailed.
Amjad Ali, 50, of Olivia Drive, Slough, raked in hundreds of thousands of pounds from the drug empire he ran from his home and a storage facility.
He diverted packages he believed to contain cannabis from the Royal Mail logistics centre in Slough, and sent them to himself instead.
His plot began to unravel in December last year when the police raided his home, car and a storage facility.
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A mountain of cash was discovered in his storage locker, valued at £1,185,420.
Wads of cash worth another £42,290 were found inside his home on December 12.
While working at the Royal Mail site located near the border with London and Heathrow, Ali spotted packages he suspected of containing drugs before they were put through the X-ray machine.
From 2024 to 2025, Ali did this several times before being caught.
The cash he made is understood to have come from the proceeds of selling the cannabis, Thames Valley Police said.
A Royal Mail spokesperson told : ‘The safety and security of the mail is a top priority and we take any criminal activity involving our network extremely seriously.
‘We have a range of measures in place to protect the mail and work closely with law enforcement agencies to support criminal investigations.’
It was not revealed how the police became aware of Ali’s activities.
PC Filippo Brancato, the investigating officer, said: ‘Ali thought he had found a lucrative way to exploit his role at Royal Mail, but today’s sentence shows that crime does not pay.
‘Our investigation uncovered more than £1.2 million in cash linked to his offending, the biggest cash seizure we as Thames Valley Police have made, highlighting the significant profits he generated through his criminal enterprise.
‘Money seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act will be reinvested into policing and community initiatives, helping us continue to disrupt criminal activity and bring offenders to justice.
‘We will continue to target those who facilitate the drugs trade and ensure they are held accountable for their actions.’
Ali was jailed at Reading Crown Court yesterday for six years and nine months.
He had pleaded guilty to one count of being concerned in the supply of class B drugs, namely cannabis, theft of parcels, possessing criminal property and possession of an offensive weapon in a private place.
His case comes after the UK Border Force made its biggest-ever cannabis seizure by catching 12 tonnes of the drug in May.
The drugs, with an estimated value of £139 million, were intercepted at Southampton Port, stashed inside cardboard boxes in two shipping containers from Canada.
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