Police believe a cannabis dealer caught with a stash of deals in his car was involved in a Kurdish organised crime group, a court has heard.
Karwan Mohammedi was arrested after officers pulled over and searched his 4x4 in a Cardiff street.
Cardiff Crown Court was told that the community where the defendant was operating is one of the busiest areas for cannabis dealing in the whole of the South Wales Police patch.
The court heard that on January 4 this year police on patrol in the Cathays area of Cardiff became suspicion of a Chevrolet Captiva being driven in Salisbury Road. The 4x4 was followed to Lowther Road and then Richmond Road where it was pulled over.
Thomas Roberts, prosecuting, said the driver Mohammedi and his car were searched and officers recovered a bag containing 13 ready-wrapped cannabis deals along with two mobile phones and £125 cash. Messages relating to drug dealing were found on the phones. In his subsequent interview the 28-year-old denied knowing anything abut the cannabis in his car though the court heard his fingerprints were later found on the bags.
The prosecutor said the area of Cathays where the defendant was stopped was one of the busiest for cannabis dealing in the whole of the South Wales Police force area and that detectives believe Mohammedi was part of a Kurdish organised crime group which is active in the supplying of the drug.
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Karwan Halih Mohammedi, of Broadway, Adamsdown, Cardiff, admitted possession of cannabis with intent to supply. He has no previous convictions in the UK. He was assisted during the hearing by a Kurdish Sorani interpreter.
Nigel Fryer, for Mohammedi, said the defendant could rightly be called a "runner" in the drug supply chain and would have had only a limited role in the operation. He said a pre-sentence report had expressed concerns about his client's vulnerability in custody given his lack of English-language skills and he invited the court to draw back from imposing a sentence of immediate custody.
Recorder Greg Bull QC said Mohammedi had come to the UK as a refugee and applied to be allowed to stay – an application that was rejected and which is currently the subject of an appeal. He told the defendant that while going through the immigration process he committed a serious criminal offence.
The recorder said he had read the pre-sentence report on Mohammedi with care but had come to the conclusion that only a sentence of immediate custody was appropriate and sentenced him to six months in prison. Mohammedi will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence.
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