County Lines police sting operation in Inverness snares Romanian illegal immigrant selling cocaine
A Romanian illegal immigrant was recruited by a serious organised crime gang to sell cocaine in the Highlands.
Ioan Chis, a 23-year-old remanded to Perth Prison, now expects to be deported at the conclusion of court proceedings after he admitted dealing drugs in Inverness totalling over £12,000 between July 31, 2023 and September 5, 2023.
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Inverness Sheriff Court heard that Chis, who arrived in the UK on August 12, 2023, was caught in a sting operation 23 days later by police who obtained the telephone number for the County Lines operation.
Fiscal depute Emily Hood explained that phone lines are used to co-ordinate sales of drugs in different areas of the country by placing an order for them on what is referred to as a "Tommy" line via WhatsApp and then the runner - in this case Chis - gets the delivery details via another phone.
"The person running the Tommy line then texts the customer the vehicle registration number driven by the runner and sends a pin drop map directing the customer where to go," Ms Hood told Sheriff Gary Aitken.
She added that undercover police officers posed as customers seeking to buy a gram of the Class A narcotic for £80.
They were then given the registration number of the vehicle to be used for the cross-country transactions and a runner - in this case Chis - gets the information from another phone called the Puna line. He is then dispatched to make the delivery to collect the cash.
The court was told that on August 29 and August 31, two officers separately arranged to meet Chis in Douglas Row and Strothers Lane in Inverness and they handed over the money.
Police then attended at an address in Clachnaharry Road on September 5 and Chis was traced to his room but no drugs were found.
But telephone analysis showed that Chis's phone number had 3180 communications with the Puna phone.
Ms Hood went on: "These messages represent 154 deals. Accordingly at £80 per deal, this is £12,320 worth of cocaine.
"The messages indicate that Chis's involvement as a runner started on August 14 until the day of enforcement action."
Defence solicitor David Patterson said his client had no previous convictions and a background report would be required.
Sheriff Aitken deferred sentence until September 30 for a background report and Chis was again remanded.
