Romanian drugs duo behind bars after £70,000 of cannabis found in car

Mircea Rusu and Nicolae Pasc were stopped by police on the M5 northbound between Junctions two and one at 1.15pm yesterday.

Riding with the officers was Romanian Highways cop Ionut Preda who's one of 10 European officers based in Birmingham this week for Operation Trivium – a national crackdown on foreign offenders operating in the UK.

Principal Inspector Preda, said: "The men clearly weren't expecting to be pulled over on the motorway… And even more shocked when an officer in full Romanian Police uniform appeared on the hard shoulder!

"I was able to speak with the men, check their details against our systems at home, and act as interpreter when they were booked into police custody. It was a great arrest and I was pleased to play my part."

Rusu, 23, and 24-year-old Pasc appeared before Birmingham magistrates this morning and were remanded into prison ahead of their an appearance at Wolverhampton Crown Court on September 18.

Operation Trivium runs throughout this week and sees officers from Romania and Lithuania, plus Dutch Police and Europol, join UK counterparts in Birmingham as part of the purge on Foreign National Offenders (FNOs).

West Midlands Police is hosting the continental cops at its event control suite which is acting as a national Command Centre during the June 22-26 operation for police forces at home and abroad requesting intelligence on suspects.

In the first three days of Operation Trivium 4,143 vehicles have been stopped nationally, of which 348 were seized, and 295 people arrested. And in the West Midlands 81 vehicles have so far been seized and 52 people arrested.

West Midlands Police Superintendent Paul Keasey, who is leading the operation, said: "Momentum is growing through the week and we're seeing some great arrests both in the West Midlands and across the country."