Two men including a 22-year-old from Southall have been jailed in connection with drug crime in Ipswich.
Abdulkadir Ali of Ditton Road in Southall was jailed for 42 months at Ipswich Crown Court on 12 January 2023 after he was found guilty at an earlier hearing in November for being concerned in the supply of class A drugs.
Ali became known to police after his co-defendant Ruben Rehman from Ilford was arrested in Ipswich following a welfare check on a cuckooed address. A cuckooed address is when a drug gang or dealer takes over a vulnerable person’s home to use for criminal purposes.
Rehman was found cocaine, a large sum of cash and a phone. When the police investigated his phone, they discovered he was in communication with Ali. Officers from Suffolk Constabulary worked alongside the Metropolitan Police and together they were able to identify a pattern of behaviour relating to the supply of Class A drugs via the ‘Kenny’ line.
A phone number identified by police as belong to the ‘Kenny’ line was found to be regularly co-locating with a phone number belonging to Ali suggesting he was in control of this line. Ali’s phone number was also found to be in communication with Rehman’s phone and calls were made to the ‘Kenny’ line, often from known class A drug users in Ipswich. This pattern of behaviour indicated that Ali was receiving orders for Class A drugs into the line before distributing those orders to Rehman, who was in Ipswich, via his personal number.
19 year old Rehman of Belgrave Road, Ilford, pleaded guilty to his part in the offence in August 2022. He was jailed for 22 months for being concerned in the supply of class A drugs and possession with intent to supply class A drugs.
Investigating officer DC Eilish Currie said: ”The guilty verdict and the sentence is an important win for Suffolk police and the Metropolitan Police in their ongoing battle against County Lines drug dealing to the Ipswich area. Ali could provide no substantial defence to prove his innocence in the supply of Class A drugs, choosing instead to boil all evidence put to him down to a mere coincidence. Alongside the guilty plea already submitted by Ali’s co-defendant Rehman there was no other choice today than to find Mr Ali guilty.
“I would hope that this case highlights that Suffolk police are taking offending of this nature seriously and are working proactively and effectively to keep their county safe. We will continue to work hard to protect the people of Suffolk from crime and the ongoing battle with Class A drugs in the county’
