Man jailed after police dog sniffs out hidden drugs
A 41-year-old man has been jailed for six years after a police dog led officers to locate drugs and cash concealed under the floorboards of his home.
Kemar Lewis, of Kensington Park, Easton, pleaded guilty to being in possession of class A with intent to supply (namely crack cocaine and heroin) and class B drugs (cannabis) during a hearing at Bristol Crown Court on Friday (12 September). He also pleaded guilty to being in possession of criminal property.
The court was told how, on Wednesday 6 August, officers were patrolling identified hotspots of anti-social behaviour and drug supply in east Bristol.
At around noon, an officer in plain clothes observed a man exchanging small items with another man in exchange for money.
Officers saw the suspect, later identified as Lewis, cycling away but lost him to sight after an initial search. A short time late, the defendant was seen acting suspiciously but was lost to sight again.
Just before 2pm, Lewis was located outside his home and was arrested on suspicion of supplying class A drugs.
He was correctly identified by the plain clothes officer who witnessed the initial suspected drug deal and a section 18 search was carried out under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act.
Following an initial search by officers, dog handler PC Harry Lewis and his specialist search dog, PD Raven, entered the property and conducted an in-depth search.
PC Lewis explained: “Raven and I worked our way through the downstairs and some of the bedrooms and kitchen. I then took her to an area under the stairs where she has shown an immediate change of behaviour, which led me to believe there was something concealed.
“This was an exceptional find for Raven and for the dog unit and really showcases the impact and importance of our specialist search dogs.
“PD Raven is one of our newest specialist search dogs, passing her initial training earlier this year. She came to us through a rescue centre where the rescuer recognised her keen sense of smell and desire to search.
“She has already proven herself an exceptional asset to the team and a great partner in fighting crime!”
After some further investigation, officers lifted the floorboards and discovered drugs with a street value of around £170,000 and criminal property (cash) worth £25,000. They found:
- Heroin worth £55,000
- Crack cocaine worth £58,500
- Cannabis worth almost £1,800
- Cutting agent / mix valued around £50,000
- A total of £16,475 in paper money
- Almost £8,650 worth of coins.
Lewis was jailed at Bristol Crown to six years in prison and £25,000 was forfeited to the courts.
Neighbourhood Policing Insp Tom Tooth said: “This positive result follows some brilliant proactive work carried out by our neighbourhood officers in East Bristol – who make up the additional resources put in by the government’s Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee – after we received intelligence and feedback about areas of interest for anti-social behaviour and drug crime.
“Drugs can have a significant impact on our communities, and we know this is currently the case for the area around Stapleton Road in Easton. We are working with our partners and local residents to address this in a number of ways, one of which is to proactively target the open supply of drugs in public places.
“Through this operation, we have been able to take a large amount of drugs off the illegal market, hopefully giving local residents some reassurance that we are focussing on the harms caused by drug use and drug crime.”