A Tunbridge Wells drug dealer who gave a false name and nationality to try and conceal his identity has been jailed. Endrion Marfana claimed he was Italian after officers suspected he was supplying cocaine, but his lies were exposed when a translator was called and he couldn’t understand a word.
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Marfana had been driving a Skoda Octavia, which was stopped by police on 2 December 2022, in Longfield Road. When questioned, he claimed to be from Italy and provided a false name which matched the registered keeper of the car.
He was detained for a drug search and eight wraps of cocaine were recovered from inside a plastic chewing gum container. The officers also seized £95 cash and Marfana’s phone, which when later examined was found to contain text messages arranging the sale of drugs.
He was arrested and charged with possession of cocaine with intent to supply, possession of criminal property (namely the seized cash) and driving without insurance.
Marfana, 21, from Tunbridge Wells pleaded guilty. He was sentenced on Thursday 1 February at Maidstone Crown Court, to one year and eight months’ imprisonment. He also forfeited the seized cash and received six points on his licence.
Organised crime group
PC Chris Clancy, of the Tunbridge Wells Neighbourhood Task Force, said:
‘Marfana sought to give false details, but his lies quickly unravelled when he could not understand a single word the Italian interpreter was saying on the phone.
‘We soon established he was in fact Albanian, and the messages on his phone were consistent with a drug dealing system, using postcodes, by an organised crime group.’