A BRADFORD drug dealer caught in possession of more than £1,000 worth of heroin and crack cocaine has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Suleman Nawaz’s home was targeted and vehicles damaged after he ran up a cannabis debt that he couldn’t repay, Bradford Crown Court heard.

Nawaz, 25, of Bartle Lane, Great Horton, Bradford, was told to traffic drugs instead and given wraps of heroin and crack cocaine, a phone and a price list.

He was arrested from a car in Buttershaw on July 2, 2021, in possession of 24 wraps of Class A drugs worth £240, prosecutor Heather Gilmore said.

A search of his home address uncovered a further 30 wraps of heroin and 156 wraps of crack cocaine valued at £1,860.

Nawaz also had five tablets of the Class C steroid oxymetholone at his home, Miss Gilmore said.

There was a burner dealer phone in the car, with a contact list and a ‘round robin’ advertising the sale of heroin and crack cocaine.

Nawaz made no comment when questioned by the police.

He pleaded guilty to possession of Class A drugs with intent to supply and simple possession of a Class C drug.

He said he had run up a cannabis debt and agreed to sell the drugs to discharge it. He passed on all money made to his dealer.

Miss Gilmore said Nawaz had been dealing for just a few weeks; messages from customers spoke of him ‘being new to it'.

Khadim Al’Hassan said in mitigation that Nawaz’s home and vehicles were targeted after he ran up a substantial debt.

He had learned his lesson after being ‘pushed into’ dealing and not wanting to get involved. He had been placed in a stranglehold that had made things very difficult for his parents.

He was a hardworking and caring man spoken highly of by many people.

Nawaz had been a heavy cannabis user but he had given it up.

Judge Sophie McKone said he was involved in dealing on a commercial scale and must have been well-trusted because he had a significant amount of drugs at his home.

Although working under direction, he had some awareness of the size of the operation.

“You played your part in peddling misery on the streets of Bradford,” Judge McKone said.

To his credit, his mother said that he was a good son and the head of the household, and he had expressed his regret in a letter to the court.