A driver who was stopped by the police has been jailed for having drugs with intent to supply.
Amarildo Tefaj, 28, of Church Road, Portslade, was caught with several bags of cocaine after police spotted him behind the wheel of a silver Toyota Yaris in Lansdowne Place, Hove.
Sussex Police said: “Intelligence suggested he may have links to drug supply in the area and his car was stopped and officers detained him at the wheel.
“Tefaj and the vehicle were searched, resulting in nine grip-seal bags of cocaine being located. He was arrested and taken to custody.”
Police also found that he was carrying a set of keys and, as a result, they searched a flat in Davigdor Road, Hove.
At the flat, officers found a large block of cocaine as well as benzocaine along with £3,650 in cash and a selection of mobile phones.
Tefaj was charged with having cocaine, a class A drug, with intent to supply as well as having criminal property – the cash.
He was picked up at about midday on Tuesday 8 September and appeared at Brighton Magistrates’ Court the next day when he was remanded in custody to await his next hearing.
At Brighton Crown Court before Judge Tim Walker on Wednesday 7 October, Tefaj pleaded guilty to both charges and was again remanded in custody, this time to await his sentence.
At Lewes Crown Court on Thursday 29 October, Judge Stephen Mooney jailed Tefaj for four and a half years and ordered him to pay a victim surcharge of £228.
The judge also ordered him to forfeit the cash, saying that it should be paid to a charity, the Sussex Community Foundation, and he ordered that Tefaj’s car should be confiscated.
All the drugs and related paraphernalia was also ordered to be forfeit and destroyed.
A second defendant in the case, Karina Ceccanti, 25, of no fixed address, denied having cocaine with intent to supply and having criminal property – the cash proceeds of drug dealing.
At Lewes Crown Court, Susannah Bramley, prosecuting, offered no evidence and Judge Mooney said that she was not guilty of both charges and free to go.
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