Drug gang jailed for total of more than 10 years
POLICE FOUND THOUSANDS IN CASH DURING RAID ON HOME
A TRIO of drug dealers, caught peddling heroin and crack cocaine on the streets of Derby, have been jailed for a combined total of more than 10 years.
A judge said Jaswant Padda “was at the top of the tree” in the operation while Amanjit Mattu “acted as the courier” who “reloaded” Mohammed Afzal with class A drugs to sell to addicts.
Padda was described as “incredibly articulate and intelligent”, Mattu as a “changed man” and Afzal as a homeless heroin user addicted to drugs for more than three decades.
A fourth member of the operation, Natalie Lewis, who was Afzal’s partner, held small quantities of drugs and was not jailed for the part she played.
Sarah Slater, prosecuting at Derby Crown Court, said the investigation began when officers spotted Afzal leaving a property in Dover Court, Stanhope Street, Normanton, on January
8, last year and watched as a drug deal took place with two known users.
She said: “Afzal was detained outside Dover Court and he dropped four wraps of crack cocaine when he realised it was police officers approaching.
“The police then went inside this flat and found Lewis and Mattu.
“They were both sat near to a table which contained drug paraphernalia – foil, white rocks, brown powder, crack pipes and Rizla papers.
“Mattu was told to put down a piece of foil on the table. He was found with £50 on him and a mobile phone was seized from the sofa where he had been sitting.
“Afzal also had £1,115 in his wallet and was found with some taxi cards and a phone number had been written on the reverse of these cards.
“This number was being used as a drugs line – clearly the cards were written so that they could be handed out to local drug users as a type of business card or advert. Lewis admitted to writing these cards.”
Miss Slater said police then raided Padda’s home in Nottingham and in a wardrobe in a bedroom found a safety box which contained £7,630 and 14.53g of a cutting agent. She said there was also £4,270 in a chest in the same room.
Miss Slater said: “In the spare bedroom, the police found Padda’s bank card in a drawer, along with a note book containing lists and phone numbers.
“In total there were 17 different names referred to on the dealer lists and on them the amounts of money owed ranged from £40 up to £1,350.”
All four defendants pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of class A drugs.
Padda, 39, of Brookhill Drive, Wollaton, and who has two previous long prison sentences for similar matters, was jailed for four years and eight months by Judge Shaun Smith QC. Andrew Vout QC, mitigating, said: “He was tortured in 2008 and struggled to deal with PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder).
“He wants to study for an Open University degree while in prison but cannot due to Covid. He’s an incredibly articulate and intelligent man.”
Mattu, 47, of Sinfin Lane, Sinfin, was jailed for three years. Steve Cobley, his barrister, said: “There is a letter from his sister saying he is a changed man since being in custody and he has a support network when he is freed.”
Afzal, 53, of no fixed address was jailed for 33 months.
Justin Ablott, mitigating, said: “He is 53 now and has had a heroin addiction since the age of 19.”
And fellow addict Lewis, 30, of no fixed address was handed an 18-month community order. Jonathan Dee, her barrister, said: “She’s a person of previous good character and she has had, if I can put it bluntly, a hard life.”
He wants to study for an Open University degree... he’s an incredibly articulate and intelligent man Barrister for Jaswant Padda