Police dog sniffs out £170,000 in drugs under Bristol man's floorboards

Kemar Lewis, 41, jailed six years after specialist dog PD Raven found crack cocaine, heroin and cannabis hidden beneath his Easton home.

Bristol drug dealer jailed after police dog uncovers hidden stash

Avonandsomerset.police.uk reports that a 41-year-old Bristol man has been sentenced to six years in prison after a specialist police dog located drugs with a street value of approximately £170,000 and £25,000 in cash concealed beneath the floorboards of his home.

Kemar Lewis, of Kensington Park, Easton, pleaded guilty at Bristol Crown Court on Friday 12 September to possession of class A drugs — crack cocaine and heroin — with intent to supply, possession of class B drugs (cannabis), and possession of criminal property. The £25,000 in cash was forfeited to the courts.

Suspected deal observed in east Bristol

Officers were patrolling identified hotspots for anti-social behaviour and drug supply in east Bristol on Wednesday 6 August. At around midday, a plain-clothes officer observed a man exchanging small items for money with another individual. The suspect, later identified as Lewis, cycled away and was initially lost to sight following a brief search.

Lewis was spotted again acting suspiciously but once more evaded officers. Just before 2pm, he was located outside his home address and arrested on suspicion of supplying class A drugs. The plain-clothes officer who witnessed the initial suspected exchange correctly identified him, and a section 18 search was carried out under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act.

PD Raven locates concealed drugs

After an initial search by officers, dog handler PC Harry Lewis brought specialist search dog PD Raven into the property. The pair worked through the downstairs rooms, bedrooms and kitchen before the dog signalled beneath the staircase.

"Raven and I worked our way through the downstairs and some of the bedrooms and kitchen," PC Lewis said. "I then took her to an area under the stairs where she has shown an immediate change of behaviour, which led me to believe there was something concealed."

Officers lifted the floorboards and discovered the cache of drugs and cash. PC Lewis described it as an exceptional find, noting that Raven had only recently completed her initial training, having come to the unit via a rescue centre whose staff recognised her strong sense of smell and drive to search.

"She has already proven herself an exceptional asset to the team and a great partner in fighting crime," he added.

Neighbourhood policing operation

Neighbourhood Policing Inspector Tom Tooth said the result followed proactive intelligence-led work by officers in east Bristol, deployed as part of the government's Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee. He pointed to the area around Stapleton Road in Easton as a current focus for drug-related harm.

"Through this operation, we have been able to take a large amount of drugs off the illegal market, hopefully giving local residents some reassurance that we are focussing on the harms caused by drug use and drug crime," Tooth said.

Source: Google News UK — Crime (en)