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20
May
Drug dealer who peddled heroin and crack cocaine in Harrogate jailed
A prolific drug dealer who peddled heroin and crack cocaine in Harrogate has been jailed for over five years.
Asad Daud, 40, was caught after CCTV operators alerted police to a man in a red Ford Fiesta talking to known drug users in Harrogate town centre, York Crown Court heard.
Officers swooped on the Fiesta and searched Daud who became “increasingly fidgety”, said prosecutor Rhianydd Clement.
Police found £765 cash inside Daud’s jacket but during the search he pulled away and tried to escape, forcing officers to take him to ground.
Inside Daud’s bag, officers found 25 wraps of “white powder”, seven wraps of “brown substance” and 10 wraps containing “white substance”. These were later confirmed to be crack cocaine, heroin and cocaine.
The 37 “street deals” included 10.5g of crack cocaine of high purity with a potential street value of up to £1,000 and 7.5g of heroin worth up to £390.
Daud, who was unemployed, was charged with possessing heroin and crack cocaine with intent to supply. He admitted the offences, along with simple possession of 1.4g of cocaine.
The drug bust occurred in December 2022, but Daud didn’t appear for sentence until today (May 20) partly due to police having to analyse the West Yorkshire man’s finances to gauge the amount of money sloshing in and out of his bank accounts.
Investigators found that between October 2018 and December 2023, over £67,000 of “unidentified, undeclared income” had been credited to Daud’s account.
Just over £28,000 had been paid into the account by 18 separate “third-party users”. Daud had also sent “large sums of money” - about £29,000 - to others unknown.
In July 2023, he opened a second bank account into which over £5,000 was credited and a similar amount was paid out by Daud to “unknown sources”.
Daud, of Cowper Street, Dewsbury, had previous convictions for Class A drug dealing between 2009 and 2015 and had served prison sentences in the past. In 2015, he was jailed for seven years for dealing Class A and B drugs.
Defence barrister Andrew Stranex said that Daud, who had been addicted to drugs since a young age, had now kicked his habit and turned his life around.
Judge Simon Hickey told Daud:
Class A drug supply causes degradation, misery and death as you know yourself, having been addicted at a very early age, and if there’s ever an illustration – graphic in this case – of ruining a young life, it’s yours.
The judge noted the “considerable amounts” of money going into and out of Daud’s accounts and that it was his fourth conviction for drug dealing.
Daud received a jail sentence of just short of five years and eight months but is likely to serve only half of that behind bars before being released on prison licence.
Mr Hickey ordered the forfeiture of the £765 cash found on Daud during the drug bust.
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