Drug dealer jailed for four years

Thursday 09 July 2020

A 21-year-old drug dealer has been sentenced to four years behind bars after a Police raid uncovered cannabis and MDMA worth nearly £17,000 in his home.

Rorey Allo was handed the sentence in Jersey’s Royal Court yesterday, after pleading guilty to five counts of possession with intent to supply Class A and B drugs, and one of holding criminal property.

The former removals company worker was among the first to be arrested as part of the Police’s ‘Operation Shark’ crackdown on drugs, which was launched in February in the wake of the death of a young islander from suspected MDMA use.

Prosecuting, Crown Advocate Matthew Maletroit told the court Allo was charged after investigators executed a search warrant on his home address.

Arriving at the St. Helier property, they noticed a “strong smell of cannabis and saw an array of drugs paraphernalia and cash scattered around the room”.

Pictured: Drugs seized as part of Operation Shark.

This included re-sealable bags containing MDMA, a syringe and five glass vials containing THC, cannabis resin and herbal cannabis stored in tins and jars, pre-rolled cannabis joints, a bong,  and £2,231 in cash in various denominations.

Traces of cocaine were also found on weighing scales.

Officers found a locked safe with a strong smell of cannabis in an unoccupied bedroom. 

Around 40 minutes into the search, Allo came home and was arrested. He was asked about the safe and initially denied it was his, but later produced a set of keys to open it.

Inside was a further £695, and more cannabis and MDMA, including a tube of pink tablets. 

In total, Police found 125.17g of MDMA, 18 MDMA tablets, 55.76g of cannabis resin, 88.82g of herbal cannabis and 3.6g of THC. 

The overall street value of the haul was estimated to be between £13,405 and £16,925, with the MDMA powder alone valued at £10,000 to £12,600. 

Interviewed by Police, Allo said he was a daily cannabis user and spent around £200 per week on resin. 

Pictured: The drugs were estimated as having a street value of up to £16,925.

He denied dealing drugs on a commercial scale, but said he occasionally sold cannabis to a group of five or six friends at £15 a gram. 

He denied selling MDMA, but said he would “give them ‘a line’ for free if they were at a social event and they asked for it”. 

Allo maintained that the 100g of MDMA he was in possession of was for personal consumption only, adding that he would consume 4-5g in a weekend. 

Asked how he paid for his drug habit, he said that he knew his dealers personally and was therefore able to do so over time.

Allo claimed that all of the cash found was his own, and had been accumulated as savings from his employment in removals.

But analysis of the drugs and Allo’s finances by a drugs trafficking expert suggested otherwise, with the officer concluding that Allo had “all the hallmarks of a person engaged in street dealing” and was likely doing so “to finance both his habit and fund his lifestyle”.

The Bailiff, Timothy Le Cocq, heard the case with the Superior Number – a panel of Jurats that only assembles for the most serious cases. 

Speaking following the sentencing, leader of Operation Shark Acting Chief Inspector Mark Hafey reaffirmed that the Police “take a zero tolerance approach to illicit drugs”, as “they destroy families and lives”.

Pictured: Acting Chief Inspector Mark Hafey, who is leading Operation Shark.

He continued: “By removing Allo from the supply chain, we are confident this will go some way to assist in protecting our communities from harm.

“We are committed to removing criminals and drug dealers from our streets and bringing them to justice.”