Brings a whole new meaning to 57 varieties as dealer is jailed
A Gillingham dealer who hid class A drugs in a novelty tomato soup can has been sentenced to seven and half years’ imprisonment. Abdul Dahir was arrested following a pre-planned drugs warrant at an address in Gillingham. During the raid, a tin can containing heroin and crack cocaine was thrown out of the property window. Benedict Erskine was also arrested at the scene. Dahir, 29, of no fixed address, denied the charges of possession with intent to supply class A drugs. A jury found him guilty at Maidstone Crown Court on 6 December 2019 and he was sentenced on Friday 13 December. Erskine, 22 of Bargrove Close in Crystal Palace, London, pleaded guilty to the same charges at a previous hearing. He is to be sentenced at a later date. At around 6.40am on Wednesday 20 March 2019, Kent Police officers attended the property in St Andrews Road. Erskine was witnessed throwing a tomato soup can out of a bedroom window before jumping from it himself. He attempted to flee but was caught by officers in a nearby alleyway. Inside the address, Dahir was discovered in the bedroom that Erskine had jumped from. Following an extensive search, drug dealing paraphernalia, cash and six mobile phones were seized from the room. Approximately 100 packets and 50 capsules of class A drugs were located outside the property on the floor under the bedroom window. The novelty soup can was found in the street and contained 42 grams of crack cocaine and 50 grams of heroin. All the drugs seized had an estimated street value totalling £10,610. Senior investigating officer, Detective Inspector Kris Eberlein of the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate said: ‘This warrant was one of a series of raids carried out in Medway as part of our ongoing crackdown on knife crime and associated offences, such as supplying drugs. It has resulted in a prolific drug dealer being put behind bars and safely away from being able to exploit vulnerable people in our communities.
