A drug dealer who spat out a cling film ball filled with rocks of heroin and crack cocaine as police executed a drugs warrant has been jailed for four-and-a-half-years.
Officers and a police dog unit from Sutton Central Safer Neighbourhoods team forced entry into a home in Orchard Road, Sutton, at about 7.55am on April 23 last year and Maurice Foster was found in an upstairs bedroom.
Foster was handcuffed and police noticed he was trying to swallow what they believed to be drugs.
The 41-year-old then spat out a ball which contained 22 rocks of class A drugs and said “I don’t want to talk about it” when arrested.
A working set of electronic scales, other suspicious substances, £4,185 in cash and two rolls of cling film were also found at the home.
It took a jury at Croydon Crown Court less than an hour to find Foster, of Orchard Road, Sutton, guilty of possession with intent to supply class A controlled drugs on Wednesday, July 8 after a two-day trial.
Foster was jailed for 54 months, ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £120 and the drugs and drugs paraphernalia were ordered to be destroyed.
PC Paul Wenham, who led the investigation, said police acted on information received from members of the community.
He added: “All reports are taken seriously, investigation and acted upon when appropriate.”
Police are now seeking to pursue civil proceedings to forfeit the money seized through the magistrates’ court.
