A COCAINE dealer whose home was visited by five different customers within the space of one hour has been jailed for six years for possessing drugs with intent to supply them.
And one of his customers – who bought 30 grams of the drug from him – has received a four-and-a-half-year sentence for the same offence.
The Superior Number of the Royal Court – which only convenes for the most serious cases – heard that 30-year-old dealer Steven Caldeira Pacheco and his customer Deive Da Silva Pires (43) were arrested as part of a States of Jersey Police anti-drugs operation codenamed Operation Dingo.
Crown Advocate Carla Carvalho, prosecuting, said the police had been keeping Pacheco’s flat in St Clement under surveillance and, on the afternoon of 25 October last year, they saw five different visitors arrive in quick succession.
They stopped each visitor as they left and found them with drugs they had bought from Pacheco.
Most had small amounts of cocaine and were dealt with in the Magistrate’s Court or at a parish-hall level. But one customer, Pires, had 30 grams of cocaine with a street value estimated at between £4,500 and £7,500.
Drug dealing not only harms the individual involved but also has a profound negative impact on the broader community
Detective chief inspector Mark Hafey
Pacheco and Pires were both arrested that afternoon.
Advocate Carvalho said traces of cocaine were found on banknotes, kitchen scales and plastic desk organisers and in other locations in his home and car, along with £13,500 in cash.
The drugs he sold and possessed could have had a total street value of between £9,000 and £15,000, the court heard.
The advocate added that Pacheco had 56 previous convictions for possession of class A and class B drugs and numerous motoring offences. She said he was deemed at high risk of reconviction and recommended a sentence of six years and eight months.
Pires pleaded guilty as soon as he was arrested, but Advocate Carvalho commented: “Given the evidence, a guilty plea would have been inevitable.”
And of the 30 grams he obtained, she added: “This was commercial supply. It cannot be classified as social supply.”
She said he was considered at medium risk of reconviction and recommended a jail term of five years and eight months.
Advocate James Corbett, defending Pacheco, said: “He was not importing drugs. He was dealing in drugs which were already in the Island.”
He added: “He said: ‘It was the stupidest thing I’ve done in my life. I didn’t do it to get rich, just to get by.’”
Advocate Julia-Anne Dix, defending Pires, said her client had admitted his guilt and had been very co-operative in interview, answering all questions rather than responding with: “No comment.”
She said: “Mr Pires was using cocaine as a coping mechanism. But he wanted to be honest and up-front with the police.”
Deputy Bailiff Robert MacRae was presiding with Jurats Ronge, Hughes, Cornish, Le Cornu and Le Heuzé.
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Hafey said the sentence “should once again send out a clear message that those who supply and deal in drugs will be targeted by the police and brought to justice”.
He added: “From a local perspective, drug dealing can destabilise our community, leading to increased crime rates and a sense of insecurity among residents.
“Drug dealing not only harms the individual involved but also has a profound negative impact on the broader community.”
