18 wraps of cocaine fall from drug dealer's boxers during police search in Blackpool
Police were in for a big surprise when they asked suspected drug dealer Elliott Wright to drop his trousers during a routine search in Blackpool.
Eighteen wraps of cocaine fell from his boxers, a court in Preston was told.
The 24-year-old from Blackpool admitted he had been caught with his pants down when he appeared before a judge and was subsequently sent to prison for possessing drugs with intent to supply.
A judge at the city’s Crown Court heard that Wright had been arrested twice in under a month on suspicion of dealing.
On the first occasion, he was released under investigation after the cocaine haul fell from his underwear at Blackpool police station.
However, just 24 days later, officers spotted him again in the town centre, carrying out a cocaine transaction with a user outside the Bridge pub on Lytham Road.
When they searched his home in Harrowside, Blackpool, they uncovered a haul of cocaine and cannabis with a street value of up to £5,900.
Wright was jailed for a total of 32 months by Recorder Ayesha Siddiqi, who told him that the offences were so serious that, even though he claimed to have stopped using and selling drugs, only a custodial sentence was appropriate.
Prosecution barrister Eleanor Watson told the court that police on patrol in Blackpool town centre saw the roofer shouting at door staff outside a nightclub. They assumed he had been ejected, but when they approached him, his behaviour prompted them to carry out a search.
Nothing was found initially, but later, when a more thorough search was conducted, Wright removed his jeans, causing 18 snap bags containing white powder to fall from his underpants.
Wright claimed they were for his own personal use. However, after being released, he was arrested again just over three weeks later when officers in an unmarked car observed him get out of a black van in Wellington Road, just off the Promenade, and carry out a hand-to-hand transaction with a user.
He was seen handing over a package and taking a roll of cash in return.
When searched, he had no drugs on him but was found to be carrying two mobile phones and £400 in cash.
Police then searched his home address in the south of the resort and found large quantities of both cocaine (worth between £1,600 and £1,700 on the streets) and cannabis (worth between £2,800 and £4,200), as well as a box of empty snap bags.
The court heard that Wright made “no comment” during interviews with the police. He had no previous convictions, although he had been cautioned twice for the possession of cannabis.
Daniel Harman, representing Wright, said it was “sad” to see a young man of previous good character standing in the dock, facing “the very real prospect” of going to jail.
“He is under no illusions about the seriousness of this case at all. If he were to go to prison, he would have no argument whatsoever, because the law states that if you deal drugs to friends and associates, you should expect to go to prison.”
However, he asked Recorder Siddiqi not to jail Wright and to consider a suspended sentence.
He said: “It is cocaine, not crack cocaine. It has become far more prevalent among younger people who, in decades gone by, wouldn’t have found themselves anywhere near the Crown Court. That is the prevalence of cocaine these days, but it is viewed exactly the same as heroin or crack cocaine by law.”
He continued: “Wright’s involvement in drugs was very much a ‘bedroom or cottage industry’, using himself and supplying to friends and associates. He was making some money. But a massive piece of mitigation is his age (he was 22 at the time). It was a stupid and immature thing to do.”
He added: “He has completely disassociated himself from the people he was hanging around with and thrown himself into work. He is no longer using cocaine.”
“There is a fork in the road for him at his age,” Mr Harman said. “He could be sat in a pub having a pint in 10 years’ time, saying to his mates that it was the making of him. (He could say) ‘I was given an opportunity.’”
Recorder Siddiqi pointed out that Wright had been arrested on the first occasion and released, yet chose to deal drugs again less than a month later. “He had a warning shot and carried on with what he was doing,” she said.
She told Wright: “You should have known better after being arrested the first time. You know the impact that drugs have.”