A drug dealer who used a Sheerness home as a base to supply heroin and crack cocaine has been jailed for one year and four months.
A 19-year-old man from Faversham was found inside the property when Kent Police officers conducted a routine welfare check on its vulnerable occupant.
In addition to detaining the offender, they seized 140 wraps of class A drugs which were ready for sale on the streets.
The man, admitted possessing heroin and crack cocaine with intent to supply and was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court on Thursday 23 December 2021.
He was arrested on 2 December 2019, when Kent Police offers visited a property in the Marine Town area of Sheerness at around 10pm.
The visit was undertaken due to concerns the occupant was being exploited by drug dealers who were using her home as a base to sell class A substances – a practice known as cuckooing.
Upon knocking on the front door, the attending officers heard someone inside shout that the police were outside.
Dukes was also seen bending behind a coffee table and was promptly detained after officers were let into the address.
A search of his coat pocket led to five wraps being seized, and a further 34 wraps were found inside a boot which had been placed behind a coffee table – where Dukes had been seen bending over.
Further quantities of class A drugs were found elsewhere in the address. Forensic analysis of these seized substances confirmed they were either crack cocaine or heroin.
Detective Constable Mark Donovan, from Kent Police’s County Lines and Gangs Team, said: ‘We will never show any tolerance for drug dealing and have officers across Kent who are always looking for signs of criminality.
‘We will always take quick action to arrest offenders and seize evidence. I am pleased that he (the offender) has now been made the subject of a custodial sentence.’