Drug dealers in £200,000 cocaine gang jailed for 20 years
Two drug dealers from the Black Country who were part of a £200,000 cocaine racket have been jailed.
Rahim Uddin and Kobir Hussain, both from Wednesbury, were rumbled along with Joshua Thomas after police swooped on a drug exchange.
Thomas was discovered with 1kg of cocaine in the waistband of his shorts after officers made their move in Sutton Coldfield.
Officers intercepted the Class A drug exchange between Thomas and Uddin in Boldmere Road on June 17 last year.
Thomas got into a Ford Focus being driven by Uddin and then left the car just minutes later.
He was stopped by officers who found the bag of cocaine with a street value of £200,000 while £40,080 in cash was on the back seat of the Focus.
An investigation showed mobile phone messages ? making reference to money, drugs and locations ? between Uddin and another man, Hussain, starting last May.
Uddin, of Corporation Street in Wednesbury, told police he believed the parcel ? which he collected from a man in Birmingham ? was a car part and had no idea Hussain wanted him to collect drugs.
The 32-year-old denied a charge of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs but was found guilty following a trial; he was jailed for nine years at Birmingham Crown Court this week.
Hussain, 30, of Kendrick Street, Wednesbury, and Thomas, 26, of Boldmere Road, admitted the same charge. Hussain was given eight years and Thomas, six years.
Det Insp Darren Crutchley, from the Serious and Organised Crime Unit, said: "Drugs are a scourge of our society and we are committed to catching those linked to the illicit trade.
"We continue to get dealers and drugs off our streets and these sentences give out a strong warning such crime will not be tolerated."
