23-year-old Bradley Dhlamini was arrested with 40 wraps of crack cocaine and heroin in his jacket pocket.
The young Zimbabwean man had been running a drug operation from a Swansea city hotel with another man who was also arrested a few hours before him. The police were alerted by the man’s strange behaviour they exhibited at the hotel where they would extend their stay a day at a time paying in cash.
The technique of paying cash by the day is apparently popular with so-called “county lines” gangs based in cities such as London and Liverpool, as it allows dealers and couriers to be flexible in coming and going from the target towns where they are working.
After arresting the first man, the police decided to investigate further and that is when they bumped into Dhlamini who immediately made a u-turn in an attempt to getaway. The hotel staff alerted the policemen that Dhlamini stayed in the same room as the man who had been arrested earlier. The police went after Dhlamini and detained him.
The police revealed that they discovered a cellphone in Dhlamini’s trouser pocket and a cigarette packet in his jacket pocket. The cigarette packet had 37 wraps of 87 per cent pure crack cocaine, and three wraps of lesser-purity heroin.
“Wraps” are drugs wrapped in plastic bags or condoms for ease of transport. When sold by street dealers, the drugs are typically packaged in tiny baggies in the amount of the drug that the buyer can afford.
Dhlamini refused to give a comment to the police and also refused to give up his pin number. The police accessed a notes file on his phone which appeared to be a dealer’s list of amounts of money owed and references to B – shorthand for “brown” or heroin – and W or “white” as cocaine is often called.
Dhlamini’s house in Greater Manchester was searched and no drugs were found but officers recovered 14 phone SIM cards. Dhlamini pleaded guilty to possession of crack cocaine with intent to supply and to possession of heroin with intent to supply when he appeared in the dock for sentencing.
Dhlamini’s lawyer presented that Dhlamini had been left in Zimbabwe by his parents when he was two years old. The parents migrated to the UK and later sent for him at the age of 10 but Dhlamini suffered a lot of mental and physical abuse including daily beatings. He had to be taken into care at the age of 14 and that is when he got introduced to drugs. Dhlamini was sentenced to 30 months in prison half of which he must serve in custody before he can be released to serve the rest in the community.
Dlamini’s story is the story of many Zimbabweans who leave to seek greener pastures in countries all over the world but end up resorting to a life of crime. Some people live better lives beyond the borders but for many, life is more difficult and activities like drug dealing and prostitution are the better options available to them to get bigger amounts of money in a short space of time.