Man jailed for heroin supply with street value of £2.2m

A man has been jailed for eight and a half years after he was found in possession of up to £2.2m worth of heroin and crack cocaine.

Essac Ali, 35, was arrested in Cardiff on March 8 after he was forced to stop his car by a three-car box manoeuvre when he tried to escape.

Searches carried out at an address in Cathedral Road and Cowbridge Road East that he was linked to led to the discoveries – some of which was concealed above a suspended ceiling and £37,320 cash hidden underneath a bed at an address in Barry.

A total of 17kg of heroin and 4kg of crack cocaine was discovered along with £10,000 in cash.

The wholesale value of the drugs was calculated between £300,000 and £438,000 but had a street value of up to £2.28m.

Possession

Ali pleaded guilty to two counts of possession with intent to supply class A drugs and possession of criminal property.

Detective Constable Joe Lewis said: “The seizure of 17kgs of heroin is probably one of the largest seizures by South Wales Police at force level.

“The way these drugs were packaged along with the items seized highlighted this was part of a larger operation for dealing.

“Ultimately this was a vast seizure that would have been packaged into smaller deal sizes and dealt to a very large customer base.”