Jail for brothers who were caught dealing drugs
Two brothers tried to deny they were related after their drug dealing den was uncovered.
When police raided a one-bedroom flat in Goodwood Road, Southsea, in October last year they found 2,000 of cocaine hidden in jars in the kitchen and 1,700 worth of cannabis stuffed inside a bongo drum.
Lamin Darbo tried to claim he had been forced to sell cocaine while his younger brother Bubacarr denied they were related and said he had no involvement in the drugs.
Bubacarr even spelt his surname with an 'e' on the end in an effort to show they were not related. But a judge at Portsmouth Crown Court rejected their story and said they had rented out a flat to set up their cocaine and cannabis operation.
The brothers, who came to England from The Gambia in 2007, have now been jailed for eight-and-a-half years.
Judge Graham White said: 'I have no doubt at all that this was a property that both of you had set up together to be a drugs house from which you could go out to the streets to deal to increase the evils of the drugs trade, to increase the misery which is put on members of society by the use of unlawful drugs.'
Lamin Darbo, 34, pleaded guilty to possession of class A and B drugs with intent to supply. He was jailed for three-and-a-half years.
Bubacarr, 30, was found guilty after a trial of possession of class A and B drugs with intent to supply and possession of criminal property, which was 370 in drug profits. He was jailed for five years.
Judge White said: 'You have no addiction yourself. This was a commercial enterprise.
'The public and people like you have to know that prison sentences will follow convictions of this sort.'
PC Mark Stephenson, who led the investigation, said: '
'They both tried to lie their way out of it. This sends a message to anyone who thinks they can deal class A drugs in Portsmouth that they will receive a substantial prison sentence.'
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Friday 25 May 2012
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