Drug man tried to hide cocaine in pool table
CCTV caught him in the act when cops visited bar
A brazen drug user ditched 12 deals of cocaine down a pool table pocket under the noses of cops, a trial heard.
Colin Sly, 24, hid a dozen one gram wraps of the class A drug in the town’s Caledonia Bar in an attempt to dodge officers.
Paisley Sheriff Court heard Sly was talking to his mate at the pool table when two police officers walked in and he dumped the drugs — unaware he was being captured on CCTV at the bar on August 14, last year.
Sly, of Springbank Road, Paisley, admitted at the trial that he was a cocaine user, but denied being a dealer.
Constable Andrew Hamilton, 23, said: “I saw him standing at the pool table and taking a white bag from his left hand pocket and placing it in the pool table.
“The white bag contained smaller bags of white powder.”
PC Hamilton added that when Sly was placed under arrest for possession of cocaine with intent to supply others, he replied: “I am no a dealer. I have a cocaine habit.”
The trial heard the 12 individuallywrapped bags of powder recovered weighed 11.74 grams and tested positive for cocaine.
The drugs were blended with benzocaine, a well-known mixing agent used by dealers to bulk out their bags.
Another witness, Constable George Hamill, 25, also told the court he had watched Sly placing the white bag containing the wraps into the pool table.
When questioned by defence agent Charlie McCusker about whether the officers obtained a warrant for searching the accused’s house for evidence of drug dealing, the officer said this request had been denied.
PC Hamill explained: “We weren’t granted a warrant because there was no known intelligence of drug dealing at that address.”
However, the trial heard evidence from DC Kenneth Foy, 48, a detective with 10 years experience of illicit drug dealing.
He testified that because the drugs were “sub-divided” into individual wraps, it signified the “drugs were broken down into smaller units for onward supply and sale.”
The detective added that the gram wraps would have a street value of around £40 each.
The court also heard claims there were three kinds of cocaine on sale in Paisley — “cooncil”, which is the poorest strength; “Gucci”, which is of medium strength and “proper”, which has a high percentage of cocaine.
Sly told the trial he only had “cooncil” cocaine on him, which he had paid £150 for from a dealer in Ferguslie Park.
Fiscal depute John Penman asked the court to convict him of charges of possession with intent to supply as the drugs Sly admitted were his had been individually wrapped, and this was evidence it was intended for sale to others.
Defence agent Charlie McCusker said there was no evidence of dealing — in addition to possession of cocaine — to support the prosecution’s charge.
Sheriff Susan Sinclair found Sly not guilty of possession with intention to supply, but found him guilty of possession of cocaine.
She added: “He may have been acquitted of the charges of intention to supply, but he is not getting his drugs back.”
Sly was remanded in custody and will appear for sentencing today.