A Heroin and cocaine dealer who does not take the drugs himself has had his life ruined in a different way – by the judge who jailed him.
Abdul Mahmood had originally been arrested on suspicion of money-laundering – until the police discovered nearly £23,000 worth of the two class A drugs at his girlfriend’s home.
Mahmood (26) of Parkstone Road, Foleshill, Coventry, was jailed for four years and eight months after pleading guilty to two charges of possessing the drugs with intent to supply them.
Warwick Crown Court heard that matters came to light after police officers on patrol in Tile Hill stopped a VW Passat at shortly after midnight because of the way it was being driven.
Prosecutor Andrew Keogh said there were three occupants, including Mahmood who was the rear seat passenger, and all three were searched.
Although there was a smell of cannabis, no drugs were found; but in Mahmood’s tracksuit trousers they found about £1,000 in cash.
He claimed he got it from the sale of a car, but could give no details, so he was arrested on suspicion of money-laundering.
In his partner’s house, under a roll of carpet, officers found a washbag which contained 27 grams of heroin in 373 street deals and 121 wraps of crack cocaine weighing 7.4 grams.
They then searched the BMW outside, for which he had the keys, and found 408 grams of heroin in 15 bags and 91.4 grams of crack in four further bags.
Mr Keoghadded that Mahmood had previous convictions for offences including burglary, kidnapping and robbery, but none for drugs matters.
Mahmood claimed in his pre-sentence report that he was not a dealer, and was simply holding the drugs for someone else to repay a debt – but the court heard he no longer maintained that.
Jailing him, Judge Sylvia de Bertodano told him: “Nearly £23,000 worth of drugs and almost £10,000 in cash was found, so you were dealing in drugs on a very significant scale.
“Class A drugs ruin lives. I say that time and time again to people who appear before me. Not your life, because you don’t take drugs, you just supply them to other people.
“But your life is about to be seriously affected in a different way, because what you have done means you have to spend a significant period of time in custody.
“Given the quantities you had, and the quantity of money, it seems to me there was significant financial gain, and that you were dealing on a large scale.”
