A drug dealer has been jailed for 10 years after he was stopped by police in Thornton Heath and found with 2kg of heroin.

Omar Raymond Welsh, 37, of Buckmaster Close, Brixton, was sentenced at Croydon Crown Court on Monday after pleading guilty to possession of class A drugs with intent to supply.

Welsh was caught on August 22, when officers from the Metropolitan Police specialist officers and Croydon police carried out a proactive operation near Thornton Heath train station.

They spotted Welsh carrying a Louis Vuitton shopping bag and as officers approached him, Welsh attempted to run off, discarding the bag nearby.

He was eventually stopped and detained in nearby Brook Road and officers also recovered the bag which contained four packets of what officers believed to be class A drugs.

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Welsh was arrested at the scene and the packets were seized and sent for analysis, which confirmed they contained heroin - approximately 2 kgs in weight.

Welsh, who was on licence having been released from prison in 2012 for a similar offence, was charged on September 5 with possession of class A drugs with intent to supply. He pleaded guilty at the first opportunity before being sentenced on October 22.

Detective Chief Inspector Steve Wagstaff, from the Met Police Specialist, Organised and Economic Crime Command, said: “This is an excellent example of our Central Task Force working with local borough police to ensure that intelligence and proactive operations are linked from the highest levels of organised criminality right down to those impacting on local neighbourhoods.

“Welsh is a dangerous and serial offender who has been convicted and sentenced due to the excellent work of the officers from our Central Task Force and Croydon’s Crime Squad.”

 

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