Dopey Drug Dealer Thought Undercover Cops Were Customers

Dread To Rights: Aghedo

A teenage County Lines drug dealer is starting a four-year sentence after specialist police caught him near Gillingham railway station in Kent.

Officers from the British Transport Police's (BTP) County Lines Taskforce were disguised as drug users and 19 year-old Kelly Aghedo warned them about police presence in the area.

He was in the middle of a drug deal involving two local users, who the undercover officers had just seen withdrawing cash and making phone calls before heading to a nearby alleyway.

Aghedo, of Latham Road, Bexleyheath, south-east London pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs and was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court.

The court heard how on February 26, near Gillingham Station the officers encountered Aghedo heading towards the same alleyway.

Believing one of the officers was a drug user looking to make a deal, Aghedo warned him of police in the area.

H walked past the alleyway, and was seen to dispose of something from his pocket.

The officers stopped and detained Aghedo and recovered two mobile phones one of which was receiving multiple calls linked to the supply of Class A drugs and he was arrested.

A subsequent search of his address resulted in a machete, a burner phone, sim cards and drugs paraphernalia being recovered.

Investigating officer DS Karen Grave said: “Our Taskforce officers are highly skilled and familiar with the behaviour of both drug users and dealers, which alerted them to Aghedo.

“So convincing are our plain clothes officers that even a seasoned dealer like Aghedo believed one of them to be a user attempting to buy drugs from him.

“Aghedo’s age is a sad reminder that County Lines gangs entrap and entice young people into the drugs trade so that before they are even out of their teens they are established dealers.

“This should serve as a warning to anyone using the railway for criminality that they can’t hide from us - we have multiple resources at our disposal and our specialist officers patrol the network every day.

“We encourage anyone to report any signs of child exploitation or drug dealing to us by discreetly texting 61016. Reports can also be made by calling BTP on 0800 40 50 40. Always call 999 in an emergency.”