Cocaine dealer who controlled drugs operation in and around Dudley jailed
A man who was caught dealing cocaine from his base in Dudley and across the West Midlands has been jailed.
Amer Ishtiaq, of St Marks Road in Lye, was given three years and six months in prison for being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs.
The 35-year-old was sentenced at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Thursday, October 6.
Ishtiaq was targeted through joint work between the Dudley Serious Organised Crime Team and the West Midlands County Lines Taskforce.
Working from intelligence gathered during an investigation over the past few months, police identified Ishtiaq as the controller of an operation to supply drugs in and around Dudley.
Officers searched Ishtiaq’s Lye home and another address in Birmingham they identified as being linked to his activities.
During the search, offices discovered evidence, including a knife, which confirmed their suspicions around him dealing drugs. Valuable high performance cars believed to be the gain from his criminal lifestyle were also seized.
Ishtiaq was promptly arrested and charged. He pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs at Wolverhampton Crown Court on September 8 and was remanded in custody prior to his sentencing this month.
Sergeant Rich Galbraith of the serious organised crime team at Dudley Police, said: "Amer Ishtiaq had no concern for the detrimental impact his crimes had on the local community let alone those he was exploiting for his own personal gain.
"But we were determined to stop him and we remain committed to the task of tackling dealers like him, joining with colleagues from the County Lines Taskforce and others across the force to get drugs off our streets and put the pushers behind bars."
Sergeantt Kay Thompson from the county lines investigation team added: "County Lines drug dealers exploit and target the vulnerable and their actions also spawn violence and other antisocial behaviour.
"They’re callous and often highly organised but they’re far from infallible and our joined-up policing approach to tackling them is yielding positive results like the recent arrest and imprisonment of Amer Ishtiaq.
"The West Midlands County Lines Taskforce worked with the local Serious Organised Crime team to target Ishtiaq’s lucrative drugs line operating in and around Dudley."
