A drug dealer has been jailed for playing a leading role in the supply of crack cocaine on the Isle of Wight.
Police had been making enquiries into a supply line being used by an individual by the name of ‘Shy’.
The efforts of investigating officers led to the identification of Shy, who was revealed to be 29-year-old Olawale Odebiyi.
Odebiyi was arrested at Stanstead Airport on 13 September 2021 as he returned to the UK from a holiday abroad.
Mobile phones were seized during the investigation, including a phone that was seized from Odebiyi’s home address in Lind Street, Ryde, along with Class A drugs and drugs paraphernalia.
Drug dealing messages from Odebiyi were found on one of the phones, which was also discovered to have been in Odebiyi’s possession whilst he made several trips to London from the Island.
Odebiyi was subsequently charged in July last year with being concerned in the supply of Crack Cocaine.
On 13 November, Odebiyi pleaded guilty, but on the basis that he played a lesser role in the drugs supply operation.
This was rejected by the prosecution, who argued that the evidence obtained by police showed he played a leading role, and the case was listed for a Newton hearing on Friday 26 January this year to determine the facts.
At the hearing, His Honour Judge Melville ruled that Odebiyi had a significant role, in that he was a manager of the operation.
It was determined that his phone was used as part of the drugs line, and that there were a huge number of messages that evidenced Odebiyi’s management role.
Odebiyi, now of Chequers Lane in Dagenham, was subsequently jailed for 40 months. He had already been serving a 24 month suspended sentence when this recent charge was brought.
That sentence was handed to him on 10 February 2022 after he had previously been convicted of being concerned in the supply of Class A & B drugs on the Isle of Wight.
DC Lee Parker said:
“Drugs supply investigations are often incredibly complex and lengthy due to the number of moving parts and players that make up the wider operation.
“This result is the culmination of more than two years of dedicated work to remove drugs from our streets, and to evidence the key role that Odebiyi played in their supply on the Isle of Wight.
“Odebiyi tried to argue that he was a small piece of the bigger puzzle, but the evidence speaks for itself in terms of his understanding of the scale of the supply, and his role as an operational manager to drive this.”
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