Drug Dealer Found with Canned Cocaine
Massive stash of narcotics discovered in police raid
A significant member of a drug smuggling network, that used Polish food tins to hide over £170,000 worth of imported drugs, has been sentenced to a total of eight years and two months at Kingston Crown Court.
Unemployed Mariusz Gibalka aged 29 of Windmill Road, Brentford pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply; cocaine, LSD, amphetamine and cannabis. He was sentenced on four counts of possession with intent to supply with all sentences to run concurrently.
On the evening of 9th June 2008, Gibalka was seen going in and out of a residential property in Lynton Avenue, Ealing. Police stopped him nearby and he was found in possession of 30 grammes of cocaine and approximately 200 tablets that were believed to be ecstasy. He was arrested at the scene for conspiracy to supply drugs.
An immediate search of the Ealing property had just come from uncovered a massive quantity of drugs including £14,000 worth of cocaine and £7,000 worth of cannabis. Also found were seven tins of what appeared to be sealed Polish food. The tins were professionally labeled as containing processed turkey and ham. Upon opening one of the tins, it was found to contain a quantity of pink tablets with a "four leaf clover" on, packed inside some white powder.
A further search warrant at Gibalka's Brentford home address uncovered a holdall that had recently been couriered across from Poland. Inside the holdall, were 35 identical food tins to the Ealing address, again containing white powder and pink tablets. Initially it was believed that both sets of Polish food tins contained high-grade amphetamine powder and ecstasy tablets, however, a full examination by the Forensic Science Service revealed that both the pills and the powder were in fact Piperizine. Piperizine is a substance with identical effects to ecstasy, however despite it being a controlled drug in most of Europe and throughout the USA, it is not subject to any of the provisions of the Misuse of Drugs Act in the UK. In total 60,000 Piperizine tablets were recovered, along with 6.5 kilograms of Piperizine powder, together estimated to be worth £160,000.
A later examination of the cocaine seized in Ealing, indicated that due to the manner in which it had been packed, it also had arrived in the UK within Polish food tins.
DI Marion Ryan, from the Central Task Force, said, "This case demonstrates that whilst criminals may try to find unusual places to hide drugs for importation, we continue to be a step ahead. The unusual use of Piperizine, leaves me in no doubt that it would have indeed been sold as ecstasy to unwitting customers. This seizure and the arrest of these three men completely disrupts this network's ability to operate and in doing so helps prevent the harm that these drugs would otherwise have caused to London's communities."
October 9, 2008
