A drug dealer tried to put police off the scent by using three different names after making a daft mistake and drawing attention to himself.
Cheshire Police said at 7.10pm on Monday, February 21, officers on regular patrol spotted a man driving a Fiat Punto while using his mobile phone on Longford Street in Warrington.
When he pulled over into a parking bay on nearby Forster Street, officers approached him and asked what his name was, but he responded that his name was Lunescu. As the officer began to set up fingerprint identification equipment to check the identity of the man, he quickly stated he had provided false details, and he was in fact called Fabjan Kasneci.
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The 22-year-old said he was going to get a kebab on Orford Lane, which was a distance away from where he had stopped. When asked to produced identification he claimed he didn’t have anything before eventually admitting his real name - Xhovani Kasneci.
The court heard how when patrols searched his car, they found four bundles of cash with around £1,000 in each, two house keys and a phone under the driver’s seat. He was then arrested on suspicion of money laundering and driving offences.
Police officers then searched an address lined to Kasneci on Forster Street and seized five shopping bags containing cannabis which had been bagged in further plastic air tight bags. Further examination revealed that officers had recovered 23 deals of cannabis weighing 1kg each from the property.
He was further arrested and subsequently charged with possession with intent to supply Class B drugs (cannabis), acquiring criminal property, using a mobile phone while driving, driving without insurance and without a licence. Kasneci, of Lansdowne Road in Tottenham, appeared before Liverpool Crown Court on March 23, where he admitted the offences and was sentenced to two years and one month in prison.
Detective Constable Vicky Hancox said: "Kasneci attempted to deceive officers to evade justice for his actions but it began to unravel and we were able to bring him before the courts. This is a great result and shows how following a stop check we have been able to not only deal with driving offences but also able to locate and seize a large amount of cannabis with an estimated value of between £92,000 to £161,000.
"We have stopped these drugs from finding a way onto the streets of Warrington and also prevented further misery to the community. We will not stop in removing illegal drugs from our town and we are committed in doing everything possible to ensure that our work continues."
