Man jailed after warrant uncovers £11k in class A drugs

A heroin, crack cocaine and cannabis dealer has been jailed after we found an estimated £11,000-worth of drugs during a search warrant in Stoke-on-Trent.

Christopher Rhodes, aged 41, of Stoke-on-Trent, was handcuffed by officers after they went inside an address on Victoria Place, Fenton, in June last year.

Rhodes was inside and had deals of crack cocaine and heroin on him, as well as £665 in cash.

Lots of drug paraphernalia and mobile phones were found inside the address, with the estimated street value of the drugs seized believed to be around £11,000.

Rhodes was taken to custody, questioned, and charged with the offences.

At Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court on Thursday (4 July), he was sentenced to three-years behind bars after previously admitting possession with intent to supply crack cocaine, heroin and cannabis.

PC Lovatt, from the local policing tasking team, said: “This was a significant seizure of illegal drugs that was made possible through some effective local policing and intelligence gathering.

“We’re continuing to target the groups responsible for this criminality every single day across Staffordshire and will continue to act on reports from members of the community to find those responsible.”

Since we launched a clampdown on serious and organised crime across Staffordshire, we have arrested more than 1,000 suspects for drug and weapon offences.

Officers are working hard to proactively and relentlessly target groups and individuals responsible for high-harm crimes, including county lines drug distribution, illegal firearms activity, modern slavery, and cyber-crime in our county.

To read more about what we’ve doing, visit: Operation Target: More than 1,000 arrests for drugs and weapons offences | Staffordshire Police