A Met Police officer who accidentally dropped his cocaine while on duty in a police station has been fired.
Detective Constable Hashim Waseem, who served in west London, was caught after another officer found a bag on the floor of Polar Park Custody Suite in Heathrow on July 6, 2022.
It was tested and found to be cocaine. CCTV then revealed that DC Waseem had accidentally dropped the bag of the Class A drug while trying to scan his warrant card at work.
He was arrested at Acton Police Station and two more packets of cocaine were found inside his warrant card holder.
During interview under caution, he claimed he did not purchase the drugs or take them.
He said he had found the wraps “some time ago” and that he had placed the drugs in his warrant card holder to bring them to work and find out what to do with them.
He claimed that he had forgotten they were there when asked.
However, a misconduct hearing found it was “wholly implausible” he would not have remembered that he had further wraps when he was arrested for suspicion of possessing cocaine, noting he had told officers they would not find anything on him.
The misconduct panel fired the officer without notice, saying he had breached policing standards over his “discreditable conduct”.
Chief Superintendent Sean Wilson said: “Our officers know the impact that drugs can have on our communities and it is extremely concerning that DC Waseem thought it was acceptable to be carrying drugs while at work.
"He should never have been in possession of drugs on or off duty and he has rightly been dismissed from the Met. There is no place for such conduct in the organisation."
DC Waseem will now be added to the Barred List held by the College of Policing, the Met said.
Those appearing on the list cannot be employed by other police forces or a range of associated policing bodies.
