A man who tried to swallow a number of drugs when he was stopped in his car by the Specialist Enforcement Unit (SEU) in Crawley has been jailed after admitting supplying crack cocaine and heroin.

Kewbe Tomlinson was driving in Balcombe Road on 6 January when his vehicle was stopped by officers following information that it was being used in the supply drugs. In order to gain entry to the car and to preserve any evidence, officers broke the driver’s window and found 36-year-old Tomlinson trying to conceal wraps of drugs by swallowing them. They stopped him and he spat them out. He was arrested and taken to hospital to ensure he had not managed to swallow any drugs before being taken to custody.

A search of the vehicle uncovered 93 wraps of drugs which were revealed to be crack cocaine and heroin worth £1,860.

Tomlinson, of Pincott Road, Wimbledon, London, was charged with being concerned in the supply of heroin and crack cocaine and two counts of possession of class A drugs with intent to supply. He pleaded guilty to the offences and was sentenced to five-and-a-half-years in jail when he appeared at Hove Crown Court on Friday (19 March).

Inspector Johnny Hartley from the SEU said:
“This is an excellent example of teams within the force working together to bring offenders to justice and to keep our communities safe. The tactical options the SEU use allow us to obtain the best evidence and this with the dedicated and thorough investigative work by the West Sussex Community Investigation Team, resulted in Tomlinson pleading guilty to the offences.

“The sentence imposed by the court demonstrates the seriousness of the offence and we will continue to tackle and target those who exploit the vulnerable and commit crime within Sussex.”

Images and video © Sussex Police

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