A drug dealer was caught with a cocktail of narcotics worth up to £88,000 after trying to hide from police in a wheelie bin.
Sabbi Miah was the passenger in a speeding car which drew the attention of officers in Whitley Bay. After a chase, the driver lost control and he and Miah made a run for it. The driver got away but Miah was caught climbing into a bin and when the car was searched, cocaine, MDMA and ketamine were seized and he also had £2,800 in cash.
Police found documents linking him to an apartment in Newcastle city centre, where a much bigger stash of cocaine, heroin, MDMA and cannabis was found. Now the 23-year-old, who turned to drug dealing to pay off gambling debts, has been jailed at Newcastle Crown Court.
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It was just after midnight on November 21 last year that police officers on duty in Whitley Bay noticed a blue Ford Focus travelling at speed and they began to follow it. Officers activated their blue lights and sirens but the driver failed to stop and a chase began.
After a short distance the driver lost control and the car stopped, with the driver and Miah getting out and trying to flee. When officers caught up with Miah he had the £2,800 in cash and a search of the car found 11 bags of ketamine, 19 bags of 0.5g deals of cocaine and 19 MDMA tablets. Documents were found in relation to the Dreams Apartments, in Newcastle city centre, for a flat he was renting.
When the flat was searched, police found a large stash of drugs. Including what was found in the car, he was in possession of a total of around a kilo of cocaine, worth £35,000, more than 1,000 MDMA tablets, 83.9g of heroin and 1.2 kilos of cannabis. The court heard the drugs would have been worth up to £88,720.
When he was interviewed, Miah made no comment other than to say he was in debt. The 23-year-old, of Kingsley Terrace, Newcastle, who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to possessing cocaine, heroin, MDMA, cannabis and ketamine with intent to supply and possessing criminal property. He was jailed for four years and one month.
The court heard Miah lost his job during lockdown and got into gambling debts, which he reduced from £40,000 to £24,000 after he started to deal drugs. Steven Reed, defending, said: "He was naive and a willing scapegoat. He put the property in his name and carried the key."
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