AN ILLEGAL immigrant is set to be deported for a second time - a year after he was removed from the country for supplying class A drugs.

Hunar Jalal Ahmed was initially escorted back to Iraq in February 2007 after he served part of a three-year prison sentence for selling heroin and cocaine in the Blackburn area.

But police said the 24-year-old returned to Britain illegally and was this week detained by police following a stop-and-check on a car in Brookhouse Lane, Whalley Range.

Officers found 12 wraps of a powdered substance, thought to be heroin and cocaine, inside the Toyota Corolla when it was stopped at midday on Monday.

Two other men were also questioned by police. A 19-year-old man is currently on police bail pending further inquiries and analysis of the substance and a 26-year-old man was released without charge.

Kurdish-speaking Ahmed, who was arrested in 2004 as part of Operation Nimrod's crackdown on Class A drug rings in East Lancashire, will now be deported back to Iraq again.

Detective Inspector Joanne Lightbown, of Blackburn police, said: “This demonstrates our commitment to taking drugs off our streets and shows that if you come into this country illegally to commit crime, you will be caught and dealt with accordingly.

"This man should not have been in this country and the public should be reassured that we will carry out thorough and robust investigations on anyone suspected of being involved in crime."

Government figures say that last year there were 570,000 illegal immigrants living in the UK, with more than 24,000 people being prevented from actually entering the country.

Over 4,000 criminals were deported back to their country of birth.

In April this year the Home Office set up the United Kingdom Border Agency to crack down on the number of illegal immigrants coming into the country.

A UKBA spokesperson said: "Those people who come here and break our laws will be removed.

"Last year we removed a person every eight minutes, including a record 4,200 foreign prisoners.

"This year we will remove more.

"The UK Borders Act will now make it easier to deport foreign offenders, allowing foreign nationals who receive a custodial sentence for a serious crime to be automatically considered for deportation no matter what length of sentence they have served.

"Those subject to these provisions will only have a right of appeal from outside the UK except in cases where an arguable asylum or human rights claim has been established."

The stop-and-check on Ahmed followed the seizure of 14 wraps of heroin and cocaine from a Vauxhall Vectra in Whalley Range at midday on Saturday 16 August.

Two men, aged 21 and 17, were arrested, one was given a caution for possession of drugs and the second, was charged with disqualified driving.

Anyone with information or concerns about drugs in their neighbourhood can contact police on 0845 1 25 35 45 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111