A MEMBER of a drugs line that had taken over a room at the Jury’s Inn hotel was arrested when he came downstairs to pay for a takeaway food delivery.

Now, the prime mover in the Walker drugs line, which was estimated to have made £90,000 over 81 days in late 2017 and early 2018, has been jailed for almost six years. 

Sending Bamir Cukaj to prison for five years and 10 months, Judge Jason Taylor QC said the dealing “left a trail of destruction in its wake”.

Swindon Crown Court heard that staff at the Jury’s Inn, in Swindon town centre, grew suspicious after the fresh-faced dealers paid for the room in cash in December 2017, and called police.

Bamir Cukaj, the then 20-year-old said to have been running the Walker drugs line, came downstairs – but sloped off when he saw police officers in the hotel lobby. 

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Bamir Cukaj's custody shot Picture: WILTSHIRE POLICE

Another member of the gang, Saeedul Ali, who was jailed for 12 months last year, was arrested as he went into the lobby to pay off the takeaway delivery driver.

When police raided the room used by the gang they found Cukaj, his phone, crack and cocaine worth more than £2,000, sandwich bags, a set of scales and almost £1,000 cash that had been bundled into dirty laundry.

The following month, in January 2018, police stormed 45-year-old Terrance Bonner’s home in County Road. They found him standing in the bathroom and a package of heroin and crack worth an estimated £270 floating in the toilet bowl.

The dealer line phone was also in the house, together with more wraps of crack cocaine.

Analysis showed that over 81 days, the number attributed to the dealer “line” had sent more than 5,000 text messages to 349 numbers. It was said those texts would have resulted in 9,000 individual deals and a gross income of £90,000.

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Drugs and cash found by the police Picture: WILTSHIRE POLICE

Mitigation

Tony Bignall, for Cukaj, said his client, now 23, had come to the country illegally from Albania when he was 14. He had gone to school and college but fell in with the wrong crowd and developed a drug debt that his dealers said had to be worked off by dealing drugs. He had no previous convictions.

In a basis of plea, Bonner said he had allowed his house to be used by the Walker line and was involved for around two weeks. 

His advocate, Rob Ross, said the man had been sent to prison in 2019 for drug dealing committed around the same time as his involvement in the Walker line. He questioned the time it had taken to get the matter to court. Bonner was said to have got clean while in prison and had managed to completely turn his life around since his release. 

Judge Taylor praised Bonner’s turnaround and deferred his sentence until November 3, ordering he engage with the probation service, stay out of trouble and try to get a job. 

He said: “I want to see if you continue the good progress that you have been making.” 

The judge added: “That is an exceptional course but as I have already said, your case is quite exceptional. Guidelines are not tramlines, sentences must approach each case individually and whilst dealing in class A drugs almost invariably results in immediate custody, to have that as a blanket rule would be unjust – certainly in this case.” 

Cukaj, of Falmouth Grove, Old Walcot, pleaded guilty on the day of his trial to being concerned in the supply of class A drugs. Bonner, formerly of Barton Hill, Bristol, admitted two counts of being concerned in the supply of class A drugs.

Saeedul Ali, 20, of Beckhampton Street, was given 12 months’ imprisonment last summer for his role in the line. He had earlier been jailed for three years and 10 months for running another drugs line.

The prosecution offered no evidence against Izmir Cubaj, 26, who had been due to stand trial earlier this year. 

Detective welcomes sentence 

Det Sgt Joe Shanklin of Wiltshire Police’s Operation Fortitude team said: “My team will target the most serious offenders across Swindon and Wiltshire and that includes tackling those who organise the supply and distribution of illegal drugs, including crack cocaine and heroin.

“We know that these dealers, both the local lines and the county lines who bring drugs into the area, cause an enormous amount of damage and misery to our communities. They target the most vulnerable, often exploiting young people, and their illegal activity brings with it violence and intimidation to communities.

“This prison sentence given to Cukaj reflects the harm that is caused by those involved in the crack cocaine and heroin market.

“We are committed to getting these drugs off our streets and my staff will work tirelessly to get offenders behind bars and I would urge anyone with information about drug dealing in their local community to call us – you can give information anonymously if you prefer.”