Drug dealer who was chased through Gunwharf Quays with £200,000 Class A drugs is jailed for five years

Police in Portsmouth stopped a car on June 28 after receiving a tip-off from the force’s Isle of Wight High Harm team, which had been investigating drgs operations.

James Brian Rose, who was in the front passenger seat, immediately fled.

The 27-year-old was chased through Gunwharf by police officers, who saw him throw a black rucksack into the water.

Officers arrested Rose and recovered the bag.

Inside, they found large sealed packages, as well as Rose’s wallet which contained about £850 cash.

Enquiries determined that the packages contained crack and heroin with an estimated street value of approximately £200,000.

Rose, of North Road in Shanklin, was charged with two counts of possession of Class A drugs with intent to supply, and one count of concealing criminal property.

He appeared at Portsmouth Crown Court for sentencing today having previously admitted the offences, and was jailed for five years.

T/Det Con Callum Younger, who investigated the case, said: ‘This result follows some excellent proactive work by officers both on the Isle of Wight and on the mainland to intercept the supply of a significant quantity of drugs.

‘Because of this, a huge amount of cocaine and heroin has been removed from the streets, and Rose is now behind bars.

‘Much of the work we do as police officers to tackle drugs supply is intelligence-based, which is why it is so important that people continue to report to police any information about the suspected supply of drugs in their neighbourhood.

‘You may not always see an immediate response, but please be reassured that lots of activity takes place behind the scenes and the information you provide all feeds into what we are doing.’

If you have information about drugs supply in your area, you can report this to police on 101, or by clicking here.

More drug-related deaths were recorded in Portsmouth last year, according to recently-released figures.

Data from the Office for National Statistics show 29 deaths related to drug poisoning were registered in Portsmouth in 2021, up from 14 the previous year.

They were among 4,859 drug poisoning deaths registered across England and Wales last year – the ninth consecutive rise .