Man sentenced to three years in prison for involvement in Medway drugs line
A man has been sentenced to three years in prison at Maidstone Crown Court for supplying class A drugs as part of a Medway drugs line.
Abdirazak Guled, 32, was arrested by police in Chatham who were executing a warrant in September 2020.
He was found in possession of five wraps of heroin and a further search of the property uncovered 60 wraps of crack cocaine, the court heard today.
Also found in his possession was a burner phone and digital scales.
When analysed by police the phone, ending with number 1954, was linked to a Medway drugs line known as J24.
A police investigation concluded that Guled had a significant role in the operation, which would send bulk texts marketing the drugs it was supplying between July and September 2020.
Previous convictions
The defendant originally stated that the drugs found were for personal use, but on February 14, 2023, he pleaded guilty to two counts of possession with intent to supply class A drugs.
The defendant, who spoke in court only to confirm his name, has previous convictions for possession of a knife and drug offences, the court heard.
In mitigation, defence counsel Mr Saunders said Guled was “intelligent, speaks well and could do well” and that there was a tinge of sadness in reading out references from the defendant’s family.
He was a user who took an offer for accommodation in return for dealing drugs, he told the court.
In his sentencing remarks, the judge, Phillip St John Stevens, said: “There is no issue with the defence and court that you were fulfilling an important role.
“The phone you had on you was connected using its number to a county line drug phone which from evidence was being run from July to September 2020 when you were arrested.
“There is no evidence that you were running that phone for that period, but it does demonstrate that you must have been aware that this was part of a larger operation, and you had some function within that.”
The judge reduced the sentence of four years and six months by a quarter due to the defendant’s guilty plea, he said.
