A young drug baron who was caught trying to flood the north-east with cocaine and heroin has been jailed for 44 months.
David Evans was snared as part of a police crackdown on suspected dealers in Aberdeenshire.
The 23-year-old Welshman was arrested after officers swooped on his home at New Pitsligo and found Class A drugs with a street value of nearly £70,000.
And just days after a sheriff released him back into the community, Evans was caught with crack cocaine worth £780.
Yesterday, Evans appeared at the High Court in Edinburgh and admitted being involved in the supply of both cocaine and heroin between April 10-16.
Judge Lord Burns told him: “It appears you left your home to come up to Scotland with the precise intention of peddling Class A drugs in this locality.”
He said the father-of-two was “plainly not deterred” from dealing after already being caught red-handed.
Last night, Detective Inspector Stewart Drummond, who led the inquiry, welcomed the sentence.
“Evans normally resides in Liverpool, but came to Fraserburgh with the clear intent of selling drugs in the town and surrounding areas,” he said.
“The detection and sentencing of Evans should send out a clear message to those involved in the supply of drugs that the police will continue to make the north-east of Scotland a hostile place for them to operate and we will keep our communities safe from those involved in dealing drugs.”
The High Court heard that officers had gone to Evans’s house armed with a search warrant after a tip-off about his drug trafficking activities.
Advocate depute Susanne Tanner, prosecuting, said that officers caught Evans as he tried to escape out of a back door.
Inside, drugs and cash were discovered in the living room, while a small amount of cocaine was found in one of his socks.
Police seized wraps of heroin worth almost £64,000 and cocaine with a value of more than £3,000.
Evans was later released on bail to a house in Fraserburgh’s West Road.
Police received information that he was still dealing, despite his pending court case, and secured a warrant to search the property.
Evans, described in court papers as a prisoner at HMP Grampian, was found alone in the living room with £1,000 in cash and crack cocaine worth hundreds of pounds.
His counsel, advocate Emma Toner, said Evans had previous convictions for drug-related offences.
“Essentially he regrets his involvement in this exercise,” she said.
Det Sgt Drummond yesterday appealed for anyone with information about potential drug dealing in the north-east to get in touch.
“The sooner we receive information the quicker we can act on it and get dealers such as Evans put before the courts,” he said.
