A ‘third strike’ drug dealer from London has been sentenced to 4 years imprisonment following an investigation by the Dedicated Crime Team (DCT) in Swindon.
Liam Porter, aged 29, of Cheltenham Place, London, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply class A drugs, possession of class B drugs, obstructing a police officer in exercise of a section 23 power to detain and possession of criminal property.
Maximillion Owusu, aged 24, of Stafford Road, London, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply heroin and received a three-and-a-half year prison sentence.
Gary Johnson, aged 36, of Lucerne Close, Swindon, was the driver of the car, and pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of class A drugs, possession of crack cocaine and driving offences, and received a two year and three months prison sentence.
On Thursday 2 June 2016, at approximately 12.34pm, plain clothes officers from the Dedicated Crime Team detained and arrested Porter, Owusu, and two others from a silver Audi A4 on the forecourt of the Chiseldon Service Station. At the time of the arrests, the area was very busy with other motorists and shoppers.
Despite this, Porter and Owusu attempted to fight officers and as a result, were sprayed with incapacitant spray while trying to dispose of heroin and crack cocaine.
Inside the car on the lap of Owusu, 80 street deals of heroin were seized with a street value of £800. As well as this, £1,200 cash was seized. The mobile phone being used to run the operation in Swindon was also recovered from Owusu.
The vehicle was found to have no valid insurance in place and was seized as a result.
Officers believed Porter had drugs internally concealed in his body and as a result, he was charged and remanded to Swindon Magistrates Court the following day.
Due to the suspected internal concealment, Porter remained under constant supervision at Gablecross Police Station and police sought to apply to the court to have him remanded back into custody for eight days in order to be monitored to pass the drugs. But while awaiting the hearing at Swindon Magistrates Court, Porter produced a package containing 13 deals of crack cocaine with a street value of £130. Porter has two previous convictions for supplying heroin.
Following sentencing yesterday (5 June 2017), Detective Constable George Booth from the DCT, said: “We could not have achieved this result without the assistance and information from the public.
“To be able to remove not only the drugs destined for sale in Swindon, but also seize their assets as well as their means of travelling around to commit crime, made this a really positive result.
“Drug addiction ruins lives and the knock-on effects are felt by the entire community.
“I would like to re-emphasise that Dangerous Drugs Networks have no place in Wiltshire and Swindon and the Dedicated Crime Team will do all that we can to ensure criminals like Porter and Owusu do not see our county as a safe place for them to commit crime and sell class A drugs. We are committed to tackling the threat and harm they pose and we will use all the legislation available to us to bring offenders to justice. This includes keeping suspects in custody for long periods of time if we believe they have illicit items, such as class A drugs, concealed within their bodies.
“Finally, I would like to urge members of the public that if you are aware of drug activity or a DDN operating in your area, please call police immediately via 101.”
