An Iranian refugee caught with cocaine, cash and a how-to guide for manufacturing methamphetamine has been jailed for at least two years for drug trafficking.

Emad Zarghami, 24, had a bright future as a scholarship university student but instead set his sights on professional gambling.

Emad Zarghami told the court he was a "professional gambler". Credit:Instagram

His plans came undone when he was stopped in his $140,000 Audi with 261 grams of cocaine and more than $100,000 of cash stuffed in a backpack in the boot. Police who stopped him as he left Melbourne's Crown casino on Boxing Day in 2017 also found a USB attached to his keys. In it was a digital copy of the book Secrets of Methamphetamine Manufacture.

Zarghami was on bail at the time for other drug offences.