AFTER £300K STASH IS FOUND IN WOODS
Dealer linked to haul through fingerprints and DNA
ONE of Stoke-on-trent’s top drug dealers has been jailed for more than seven years after hundreds of thousands of pounds of heroin and crack cocaine was found hidden in woodland.
Anthony Wright – who also worked as a window cleaner – was linked by forensic evidence to the huge haul uncovered buried behind a home in Chell Heath.
Officers had followed a path trodden into soil, which led to a gap in a fence just big enough for someone to squeeze through.
Concealed in the undergrowth on the other side were one-and-a-half kilograms of heroin, 980 grams of crack cocaine and 420 grams of cannabis, with a street value of £300,000. Further searches uncovered digital scales, grip bags and spoons.
Wright, aged 27, was jailed for seven-anda-half years at Stoke-on-trent Crown Court after pleading guilty to possession with intent to supply class A and B drugs.
The court heard that police raided an address in Ward Place, Chell Heath, on October 16, 2018, to execute a search warrant under the Misuse of Drugs Act. A chainsaw and enforcer were used to access the door at the property.
Several men were present, including Peter Rogers Junior, who was described as having an ‘operational management’ role.
The 31-year-old was jailed for eight-anda-half years in February 2019 after pleading guilty to three charges of possession with intent to supply heroin, crack cocaine and cannabis.
Wright, of Alcester Close, Chell Heath, was not at the property at the time, but the investigation that followed linked him to the drugs and group.
A phone top-up voucher showed there was a connection between Wright and a member of the gang. He had made repeated calls immediately following the warrant at Ward Place.
Fingerprints and DNA then linked Wright to bags containing packages of crack cocaine, and a taped package containing 994 grams of heroin, among other items seized at Ward Place.
Wright’s phone also showed he was involved in supplying cannabis and cocaine.
Speaking after the case, Detective Inspector Tim Boulton, of Staffordshire Police, said: “This investigation has involved a lot of hard work and we hope these sentences send out a stark message to those who think they can spread misery, violence and debt through drug dealing.”