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New York cabbie picks up $5,000 fare to California

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New York taxi (file image)

New York taxi driver Mohammed Alam has picked up the fare of a lifetime - $5,000 (£3,000) to drive across the US to Los Angeles.

Investment banker John Belitsky said he and friend Dan Wuebben wanted to do something "magical".

They decided on a cab ride to LA and struck the deal with Mr Alam after finding him at LaGuardia Airport.

The 2,448-mile trip took six days and included a stop in Las Vegas where the friends won $2,000.

Mr Belitsky, of Leonia, New Jersey, and Mr Wuebben, of Queens, New York, haven't yet said how they intend to get back to the East Coast.

But Mr Alam says a friend will help him make the drive back home.

The epic trip has been documented by .

On 22 April, after their winning streak in Las Vegas, he tweeted: "Woke up Alam to a shower of $100 bills at sunrise."

New York news blog NYU Local estimated that the trip would have cost $17,000 (£10,000) if the meter had been running for the whole trip.