Three pals caught drug dealing left police a trail of phone evidence.
Bilal Hussain, 22; Adam Hussain, 19; and Zen Hussain, 20, appeared at Manchester Crown Court on Tuesday to be sentenced.
The three were caught after police were alerted to two cars - an Audi A3 and Honda Civic - acting suspiciously in Longsight on 14 September last year.
Duncan Wilcox, prosecuting, said police had initially been told a ‘gun transfer’ was taking place at around 9.20pm in a Tesco car park.
Officers attended and stopped the Audi which was being driven by Zen, with Bilal in the passenger seat.
Police found 24g of cannabis in the car, snap bags, mobile phones, scales and hundreds of pounds in cash, the court heard.
The Honda was spotted a short time later and Adam was driving.
Cannabis and cash was again found in the car and on his person, Mr Wilcox said.
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All three admitted possession with intent to supply a class B drug.
Adam admitted driving with no insurance or a licence. Zen also admitted driving the Audi without authority.
The court heard police examined the phones and found evidence of street dealing.
Messages such as 'delete our chat not looking to go to jail'; 'leave me an eighth'; 'bro can you bring me a fat 20'; and 'bring me a bud' were read to the court.
There were also pictures of piles of money on the phone, it was said.
The court heard all three men were dealing to fund their own cannabis habits. They earned as much as £190 a week, the court heard.
They have all given up smoking the drug have jobs.
Judge Elizabeth Nicholls sentenced the three men to 19 months prison, suspended for two years, apiece.
They must also complete 170 hours of unpaid work; and abide by a curfew from 9.30pm to 6.30am.
Zen was disqualified from driving for four months, while Adam had five six points put on his licence.
