A Hattersley drug dealer who hid information of his debtors in the guise sexually explicit text messages was jailed on Thursday.
Aaron Ward, 21, of Hattersley Road West, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supplying class B drugs after police raided his home in Hattersley finding cannabis, £1500 in cash, mobile phones and digital scales.
Police also found the list of his debtors concealed in a note which appeared at first to be sexually explicit writings.
Ward was jailed for 15 months in a young offender’s institution at Minshull Street Crown Court.
A GMP spokesperson said: “Ward isn’t the first drug dealer to think he had devised a clever system to hide his criminal activity.
“He also isn’t the first to discover that Greater Manchester Police has vast experience at staying one step ahead of the street dealers.”
Ward’s was first arrested as a result of investigations into a juvenile for assisting an offender.
However, analysis of the mobile phones provided the evidence showing the supply of drugs, with Ward cleverly concealing an extensive ‘debtors list’ behind sexually explicit texts.
The list was found under the notes section where the text was intended to fill the mobile phone’s viewing screen if it was accessed by anyone.
GMP added: “The Wards of this world think they are above the law and there were no doubt people on the Hattersley estate who thought he could get away with it indefinitely.
“I hope this sentence provides all the evidence they need that we remain committed to taking drug dealers off our streets.”
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