A busy drug dealer who had hundreds of followers online was caught with a kilo of cannabis at his home. Ammar Malik was a student when he made the "foolish" decision to start supplying narcotics, offering multiple ounces at a time.
Police Stop Leads to Discovery
Newcastle Crown Court heard that on September 20 2024 police stopped a VW Golf driven by Malik in Newcastle. In the car, they found two mobile phones, £965 cash and a small bag of cannabis. They searched his home and found just under £3,000 in cash and around a kilo of cannabis, worth up to £5,000.
Judge Penny Moreland told him: "Examination of your phone revealed you were a busy street dealer."
Online Operation
Malik, 21, of Merlay Hall, Walker, Newcastle, had set up a profile on two online platforms and had 200 to 300 followers on each and had encouraged them to switch platforms when he did. The court heard he advertised deals of up to five ounces of cannabis for £650. He encouraged people to share the link for his profile with friends and offered them a discount if they did so.
The messages were deleted after a week but in the seven days of available messages, he had 33 conversations with customers, some of whom were unknown to him. He got them to describe themselves so he could deliver drugs to them at pre-arranged venues. He was covering an area including student residences in Newcastle and out to North Shields, charging extra to deliver out of town.
Sentence and Defense
Judge Moreland said: "This was a relatively sophisticated operation. You were operating online and were offering large size deals and you were holding substantial stock, around a kilogram of cannabis at your home address."
Malik pleaded guilty to possessing cannabis with intent to supply and possessing ketamine. He was sentenced to 16 months suspended for two years with 250 hours unpaid work and must pay £1,000 costs.
Nick Cartmell, defending, said he was of good character at the time. He added that he ended up in debt but that has been repaid. Mr Cartmell said: "His family have removed him from that environment and group of friends. He is now living at home and is monitored by them. He is sorry. He has expressed contrition and regrets for his foolish behaviour when he was a student. He genuinely wants to change his ways."
