A man has been allowed to walk free despite admitting to being involved in a crack cocaine operation that saw drug dealers dress up as carers in an effort to avoid detection by north-east police.
Alliohe Booalew was arrested as part of a police sting where more than £5,000 worth of the class A drug was discovered within a blue bag at a property in Aberdeen.
Booalew, 46, was later found in possession of nine mobile phones.
Appearing in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court Booalew pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine at several locations across the Granite City.
Booalew’s co-accused, Agnes Chukwudi, was sentenced in January and ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work.
Police sources say that the pair dressed as carers in the community to carry out their illegal activity and avoid suspicion in the up-market west end of Aberdeen.
They were unsuccessful, however, and the pair were arrested as part of a police investigation into drug gangs operating in the area.
Police: ‘Tackling drugs is priority’
Detective Sergeant Sam Harris of North East Police CID said: “Drugs have no place in our local communities.
“Tackling the supply and distribution of controlled drugs continues to be a priority for North East Division and we will seek every opportunity to disrupt and prosecute those that are involved across Aberdeen.”
During lockdown, and at the time of these offences, police forces across the UK were grappling with criminal gangs who were dressing dealers as nurses and Deliveroo drivers to peddle Class A drugs.
One senior officer within one of the UK’s biggest police forces warned that drug lords were dressing county lines drug couriers as key workers to run a “click and collect” drug service while avoiding detection by police.
Fiscal depute Alan Townsend told the court at a previous hearing that police received intelligence that drugs were being kept at a property on Forest Avenue, Aberdeen, where Chukwudi, 35, was the registered tenant.
On April 27 2020 – just over a month after lockdown began – police raided the property and, with the help of a drug detection dog, found around 29 grams of cocaine hidden underneath the kitchen sink.
Two mobile phones were also recovered during the search, one of which showed the user had been in contact with Booalew.
The total value of the cocaine recovered was £4,420.
Weeks later, on May 12, Booalew and another male were seen entering his address on Morningfield Road, Aberdeen.
The two men were later spotted on Hamilton Drive with the other male holding a blue, weighted carrier bag.
Booalaw approached a parked car and handed an item to the passenger before the two men walked on again.
The occupants of that car were traced and found to be in possession of three wraps of cocaine.
Booalew arrested
Police then followed Booalew and the other male as they walked down Desswood Place.
They detained Booalew and during a search, recovered a mobile phone in his jacket on which he had contacted Chukwudi.
“The other male was also apprehended and at this time he was in possession of a blue carrier bag containing a sealed Alpen cereal box with £13,000 cash inside,” Mr Townsend said.
“The accused (Booalew) was subsequently arrested regarding being concerned in the supply of a controlled drug and conveyed to Kittybrewster Police Office.
“Later, same day, a drugs search warrant was executed at his address on Morningfield Road. A number of items were seized.”
During that search they found cocaine with a maximum street value of £910, scales, cling film and nine mobile phones.
In the dock, Booalew pleaded guilty to one charge of being concerned in the supply of cocaine.
Booalew was jailed in 2006 after he was found in possession of a suitcase that contained a quantity of crack cocaine.
Prison ‘would not be appropriate’
Defence solicitor Kelly Duling told the court that a psychological report into her client had been completed and that he is currently on a “stateless” passport.
“Whether or not he has leave to remain, those matters are on hold pending the outcome of this [case],” she said.
At a previous hearing of the case Ms Duling described Booalew as “on an arc of redemption” since this offence.
Sentencing Booalew, Sheriff Christine McCrossan told the court: “What has happened here is that Mr Booalew has been in custody in relation to this matter for a period of almost 16 months on remand.
“And from the narrative I have been given it’s very difficult for me to work out the extent of the role Mr Booalew played in the supply of drugs – and I cannot place it any higher than somewhere between a lesser role and a significant role.”
Sheriff McCrossan said Booalew’s previous drug possession conviction was “a very considerable time ago” and that an appropriate disposal would have been around two years in prison.
However, she concluded that he had already spent a significant amount of time on remand, stating that “it would not be appropriate for the court to impose any further custody” upon him.
As an alternative to a prison sentence, Sheriff McCrossan made Booalew, of Anderson Drive, Aberdeen, subject to a community payback order with supervision for 18 months.
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