Cramlington drug dealer Lewis Allen jailed for six years

Lewis Allen appeared at Newcastle Crown Court after being arrested back in October 2019.

He had been driving but was made to pull over by police as they suspected he had no insurance. His car was searched, and officers found a number of bags of cocaine with a street value of around £1,000.

He was released under investigation and a month later, came to the attention of police again when he was spotted driving a different car.

They followed him to an address in Dene Road, Sheepwash, and he was seen holding a bottle filled with white powder.

Allen was arrested again and taken into custody and analysis of the powder revealed it was high purity cocaine worth around £13,000.

Expert financial investigators then set about finding evidence of Allen’s shady business and before long, discovered multiple third-party credits had been deposited into his bank accounts in small amounts.

They calculated that over a three-year period, he had been paid a total of £164,364.

This evidence was presented to the court and the 28-year-old, of Linslade Walk in Cramlington, was jailed after admitting concealing criminal property and two counts of possession with intent to supply cocaine.

Despite being behind bars, Allen will appear in court once more and have a judge determine just exactly how much money he made through his illicit activities, and will decide whether to order him to pay a sum back.

Detective Chief Inspector Chris Riley of Northumbria Police said: “Crime definitely does not pay and the sooner people like Allen realise this, the better.

“Supplying harmful, addictive and illegal substances to our communities causes nothing but harm and we will not tolerate it.

“Thanks to a careful and detailed investigation into Allen’s finances, a picture of his supply network was built up, with the payments he received clearly demonstrating how much money he was making and how often he was selling the Class A drugs.

“I am pleased Allen is now behind bars with a Proceeds of Crime hearing pending.

"As part of Operation Sentinel, we will continue to tackle drug supply and place offenders before the courts.”