A DRUG dealer has been sentenced after being found with thousands of pounds worth of class A drugs.

Officers from Sussex Police's Specialist Enforcement Unit (SEU) stopped a suspect carrying £18k of class A drugs in a hire car in Crawley.

Devante Bicette, aged 25, was driving in Northgate Avenue when he was stopped by a SEU team on July 13.

They asked Bicette to step out of the vehicle, and bodycam footage shows him being evasive as an officer tried to search him.

He then tried to make a run for it, but was stopped and arrested on suspicion of possessing class A drugs with intent to supply.

The unit had received information about the hire car being linked to London drug dealing groups in Sussex, known as County Lines dealers.

The SEU carries out enforcement operations on roads across the Sussex, targeting those involved in serious, organised and violent crime.

On his person, he had four wraps of class A drugs in his underwear and more than £200 in cash in his pockets.

In the car, police found more wraps and packages of drugs including cocaine, crack cocaine and heroin worth a street value of about £12,800 to £18,500.

The Argus: Drug dealer sentenced for three years for carrying thousands of pounds worth of class A's in Crawley.

Bicette, of no fixed address, admitted three counts of possessing class A drugs with intent to supply and obstructing a police officer in the execution of their duty at Lewes Crown Court.

He was jailed for a total of three years and was banned from driving for two years and four months. The court also ordered the £260 in cash seized to be forfeited.

Inspector Jonathan Hartley said following the sentencing: “Through targeted activity from the Specialist Enforcement Unit, Bicette was detained with a significant amount of Class A drugs found on him.

“Due to the strength of the evidence and quality of our investigation Bicette pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

“The sentence imposed by the court demonstrates the seriousness of the offence and shows the SEU will continue to target those causing harm to our communities.”

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