Newport drug dealer caught with £20,000 worth of cocaine

Adil Ali was arrested after plain clothes police officers followed two addicts from Cwmbran who had driven to an address the defendant used in Glebe Street, Newport.

The users had gone there to buy drugs.

After searching the property, as well as finding the high volume of cocaine and designer clothes, officers seized 2.85g of heroin valued at £310.

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They also recovered an incriminating mobile phone and £2,800 of drug money.

There were text bombs on the phone and even a message from a customer registering a complaint to Ali, Harriet Ealdon, prosecuting, told Newport Crown Court.

“There was an expectation of significant financial gain and the defendant must have had some awareness and understanding of the scale of the operation,” she added.

“He was selling directly to users and this case is aggravated by his previous convictions.

Ali admitted possession with intent to supply heroin, possession with intent to supply cocaine and possession of criminal property.

The offences were committed on June 7.

Ali, 25, of Clarence Place, Newport has two previous drug trafficking convictions.

He was jailed for 10 months last year after he was caught smuggling cannabis worth nearly £5,000 into Bridgend’s troubled Parc Prison.

In 2017 Ali was locked up for 32 months.

On that occasion he was part of a Newport drugs gang selling heroin in the city.

Ross McQuillan-Johnson representing Ali said there was little he could say in terms of mitigation apart from mentioning his client’s early guilty pleas and his “remorse”.

He added that the defendant had built up a sizeable drug debt which he had to pay off.

Judge Daniel Williams told Ali: “You are a committed drug dealer I’m satisfied.”

After he was given a third discount for his guilty pleas, the defendant’s jail sentence was reduced from six years to four years.

He is due to face a proceeds of crime hearing.