Concerns raised to PCSOs by a member of council staff in Folkestone have led to the jailing of a drug dealer.
Terry Jones, 29, was jailed for two and a half years at Canterbury Crown Court on Tuesday 18 January 2022 after he admitted being concerned in the supply of class A drugs.
A Folkestone and Hythe District Council worker had raised concerns to local PCSOs after seeing a number of people visiting a sheltered housing property in the Foord Road area.
Investigation
The PCSOs then gathered evidence from local residents and CCTV from the area, which added to suspicions that the property had been ‘cuckooed’.
Cuckooing is when drug dealers use the home of a vulnerable person as a base for bringing drugs into an area to sell.
Kent Police carried out a warrant on 1 April 2021 and found Jones and a 15-year-old boy from south London at the property. The resident of the one-bedroom flat was not present.
Warrant
Searches uncovered around 35 wraps of heroin and analysis of messages on a phone found in Jones’ possession showed it had been used to arrange drug deals.
Jones, from Wandsworth, south-west London, was arrested at the scene and later charged.
PC Ryan Alexander, investigating officer for East Kent Criminal Investigation Department, said: ‘This case shows just how valuable information brought forward from the community can be in shutting down drug dealing networks.
‘I would like to praise the vigilance of the council worker who raised concerns, and the diligence of the PCSOs who followed up on what they had heard.
‘I urge anyone who is worried that drug dealing may be going on in their area, or that vulnerable people are being exploited, to report it to Kent Police straight away through our website, by calling 101, or dialling 999 if a crime is in progress.’
PC Ryan Alexander