A drug dealer caught with an envelope of cash had a tracking number on his phone that led police to a parcel that contained £4,000 of cocaine.
Demetre Dobson appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he admitted travelling up to the city to sell the Class A drug.
The 22-year-old, who originally comes from Birmingham, has a previous conviction for the same offence for which he received an 18-month prison sentence last year.
Accused told he would receive cocaine in post
Fiscal depute Jane Spark told the court that on March 29 this year, Dobson was stopped by police officers for a drugs search.
“The accused was found in possession of a mobile telephone and an envelope containing £2,380 in cash,” she said.
“Police later examined the telephone and saw messages instructing the accused to post money to an address in London and other messages indicating he would receive cocaine in return.
“On March 30 2023 police officers attended at Royal Mail, Kittybrewster, and provided an employee there with the package tracking reference number mentioned in the messages seen on the phone.”
Royal Mail were able to confirm that a package had been posted under that tracking number from Birmingham and it was presently in transit to an address in Aberdeen.
A hold was placed on the package, a drug search warrant was granted and on March 31 2023 police officers seized it from the sorting office.
The package was found to contain two bags, one with 104 wraps of cocaine and the other with 100 wraps.
Each of the wraps weighed 0.2 grams with a potential street value of £20 each, giving a total value of £4,080.
Dobson, whose address was given as HMP Grampian, pleaded guilty to one charge of being concerned in the supply of cocaine.
Demetre Dobson wasn’t ‘high up the chain’
Defence solicitor Caitlin Pirie told the court Dobson had become a “recreational user” of cannabis and was asked to sell it for money when he then got into drug debt.
Ms Pirie added that Dobson was then asked to sell other types of drugs but wasn’t “high up in the chain”.
Sheriff Graham Buchanan told Dobson that it was “inevitable that a period of imprisonment would be imposed” due to his previous conviction.
However, he told Dobson that he had to take his young age into account, adding: “I’m treating you more lightly than I would someone of 25 or 26 years years of age.”
Sheriff Buchanan sentenced Dobson to 10 months and 60 days in prison.
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