A DRUG dealer was caught red-handed when he was delivering crack cocaine to customers in an Audi car.

Corey Hughes, 23, was hired by criminals further up the chain and arrested with £915 in cash and drugs with a potential street value of £700.

Tabitha Walker, prosecuting, said the defendant was pulled over by PC Lewis James in the Abercarn area of Caerphilly on October 1.

MORE NEWS: Paedophile jailed over child sex abuse images and extreme pornography

The officer suspected Hughes was a dealer and he was taken to Risca police station where he was strip searched, Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court was told.

Police seized the defendant’s mobile phone which contained drug-related messages and a tick list of debtors.

Hughes played a “significant role” in trafficking drugs, Miss Walker said.

The defendant, of Gladstone Street, Cross Keys, pleaded guilty to possession of a class A drug with intent to supply and possession of criminal property.

He had five previous convictions for nine offences, including one for drug driving.

Gareth Williams, representing Hughes, said his client became involved in drug dealing as a result of his own addiction.

“The defendant made some bad decisions,” his barrister told the court.

“He had his own drug debt and he was tasked with delivering drugs.

“It is a very difficult cycle to get out of – sometimes it takes an arrest.

“He’s a street dealer but he’s at the bottom of these deals.”

Hughes had no relevant previous convictions and had entered early guilty pleas, Mr Williams added.

Judge Christopher Vosper KC told the defendant: “You were largely paying off your drug debt.

Hughes was jailed for two years and four months.

He was told he would serve half of that sentence in prison before being released on licence and any time he had spent in custody would count towards it.

The defendant is set to face a proceeds of crime hearing.