HOPES of ‘snow’ at Christmas for drug-users on a housing estate were foiled – after a dealer was caught with £1,300 worth of crack cocaine and heroin.
Janade Tariq pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to possessing quantities of the two drugs on Christmas Day last year with intent to supply on the estate in Leamington.
Tariq (24) of Wash Lane, Yardley, Birmingham, was jailed for four years after the court heard he had a previous conviction for identical offences four years ago.
Prosecutor John O’Higgins said that at just after 10pm on Christmas Day, the police ‘had occasion to stop a car’ in Sydenham Drive, Leamington, and to speak to Tariq.
He gave a false name, and the officers noticed him moving his hand towards his trousers, so he was arrested and searched.
The police found £365 in cash, but no drugs were found on him until a second search took place, when he was found to have a total of 130 wraps.
There were 70 wraps of crack cocaine, sometimes referred to as ‘snow,’ and 60 wraps of heroin with a combined street value of £1,300.
When he was interviewed Tariq, who had a previous conviction for possessing heroin and crack with intent to supply them, for which he was jailed for two years in 2014, gave ‘no comment’ replies.
Simon Hunka, defending, stressed: “The reason he was here is not because of a county lines matter, he had met someone in this area.
“But he became a user of drugs and fell into debt, and was seeking to pay it off.”
Mr Hunka said Tariq had found it very difficult to get work following his release from his previous sentence.
“Since that conviction he has led a listless life, but he has been in a relationship for a number of months, and his partner has an 11-year-old son which has involved him taking on some responsibility.”
Jailing Tariq, Judge Anthony Potter also ordered the £365 in cash to be forfeited under the Misuse of Drugs Act.
The judge told him: “In February 2014 before Birmingham Crown Court you were convicted of possessing heroin and crack with intent to supply.
“You were given a chance when you were given only a two-year term.
“But on Christmas Day last year, it appears having learned nothing from that experience, you were found on the Sydenham estate in Leamington Spa with the same two pernicious life-wrecking drugs.
“I am told you have a problem with those drugs yourself, so you should appreciate the damage they do, and you had a significant quantity of those drugs to sell.”
