Portsmouth drug dealer caught with nearly £150,000 cash and 600g of cocaine is jailed

A drug dealer caught with nearly £150,000 cash and 600g of cocaine has been jailed for three years and nine months.

On 13 January this year, police witnessed 26-year-old Bledar Canaj making a drug deal on Arundel Street before getting into a taxi.

The taxi was stopped by officers who searched Canaj and found two bags of cocaine, two bags of cannabis and a small amount of cash. His flat in Pains Road was subsequently searched, where they found around £2,500 of cash and a small amount of cannabis.

Whilst officers were there, 34-year-old Alex Xhediku entered the flat and was arrested by police. Messages found on Xhediku’s phone, which suggested he was involved in the supply of drugs, lead to a subsequent search of his address on Posbrooke Road.

A carrier bag containing £50,000 of cash was located on a kitchen side and, in the loft area of the house, officers found two additional carrier bags; one containing £93,040 in cash, the other containing 600g of cocaine.

Canaj and Xhediku were both charged with possession of cannabis with intent to supply, possession of cocaine with intent to supply, and possession of criminal property.

Both men pleaded guilty to the offences, and on 29 May, Xhediku was jailed for 45 months at Portsmouth Crown Court. Canaj, who was on court bail, failed to appear at the sentencing hearing and will be dealt with at a later date.

The officer in charge of the case said: “We are committed to disrupting the supply of drugs in Portsmouth and I am pleased to see another drug dealer face justice.

“These convictions follow a joint effort by the Priority Crime Team in Portsmouth and CID, who have ensured a large quantity of drugs and money generated from the sale of drugs has been removed from the streets.

“This is just one example of our continued efforts to relentlessly pursue organised criminals operating in the city, and we encourage anyone with information about drug dealing in their neighbourhood to report this to police. This enables us to build the intelligence picture around who is involved and where they are operating so we can disrupt the suppliers and safeguard vulnerable people.”