A “good-natured family man” has been jailed after he was caught with more than £7,000 worth of cocaine in a suitcase.
London man Emmanuel Ike, 46, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court after police discovered his DNA on a bag of cocaine.
He was snared by police when they raided a flat in Headland Court, Aberdeen and discovered a suitcase full of drugs.
The case contained three packages of cocaine with an estimated street value of £7,640.
Ike pleaded guilty to one charge of being concerned in the supply of cocaine.
DNA linked cocaine to accused
Fiscal depute Ruaridh McAlister told the court that on November 26, 2020, police executed a search warrant for the Headland Court address and found no one in so forced entry to the property.
He said: “During the search, a drug detection dog gave an indication that there may be drugs within a suitcase.
“The suitcase was later examined and found to contain various packages containing cocaine and bulking agents, such as phenacetin, paracetamol and caffeine.
“A DNA examination of the items found in the suitcase was thereafter carried out.
“The accused’s DNA was found in samples taken from a knot tying up one of the packages containing cocaine.
“There were three packages within the suitcase containing cocaine.”
One package contained 29.3g of cocaine with the potential to realise £2,930, while a second package 20.1g was understood to be worth £2,010.
A third package contained 20g of cocaine that had a street value of £2,700.
‘No way that he was near the top of the chain’
Defence agent Iain Hingston described the circumstances of the 46-year-old’s arrest as “all too terribly similar”.
He added: “People of Mr Ike’s age, generally speaking, are not those who get involved in the drug trade and that is one of the things that make this case so depressing.
“He is the most polite and good-natured family man who during 2020 clearly got involved in something that he has never been involved in due to lack of money.
“There is no way that he was near the top of the chain.
“He is truly and genuinely sorry and I have no doubt whatsoever that this has had a profound impact on his family.”
Sheriff Andrew Miller told the 46-year-old that “the harmful impact of Class A drugs on communities in this part of the country is well known”.
He added: “As is the obvious fact that those drugs can reach the users and communities in which that harm is caused through the action of people who decide, as you did, to become involved in the chain of supply – often from locations far from the north-east of Scotland.
“The quantity and value of the cocaine in which you were involved in supplying is substantial.
“Only a substantial sentence of imprisonment would reflect the serious nature of this offence.”
Sheriff Miller sentenced Ike, of Erebus Drive, London, to 18 months in prison.
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