A DRUG dealer who acted as part of a “sophisticated” conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine to users was snared after an undercover sting.

Kwama Banahene, 24, was arrested during a police operation to take out a county line drug supply ring.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard how Banahene, motivated by greed, acted as part of wider conspiracy by being “the man on the ground”.

After a call was made to the drug line, he would be instructed to go out and supply heroin and crack cocaine, often keeping wraps stashed in his mouth.

As well as his role as a runner, Banahene also topped up mobile phones used for the operation at shops in Clacton and Jaywick.

The court heard he was snared after he repeatedly sold class A drugs to an undercover officer known as Baz in Clacton.

Sasha Bailey, prosecuting, described how he met with Baz on many occasions between October 2019 and January 2020.

Banahene was arrested at London Victoria coach station as police swooped on suspects in Clacton, London, Colchester and Braintree in February last year.

He admitted two charges of conspiracy to supply a controlled drug.

Michael Gomulka, mitigating, said his client had fully accepted his role within the operation.

He said: “He makes no bones about the circumstances in which he got involved.

“It was greed. It wasn’t pressure, it wasn’t a drug habit and it certainly was naivety as to the damage that drugs cause throughout society and in individual lives.”

He added: “This a young man who, having done well at school and looking to do well at university, dropped out and drifted into serious criminal offending, having had no experience of it prior to that.”

Banahene, of John Ruskin Street, London, had already spent six months behind bars prior to the sentencing hearing.

Recorder Simon Mayo QC jailed Banahene for three years and two months, with 99 days counting towards the sentence for being on a curfew.

He said he had performed a number of roles within the supply chain of a county lines operation.