An ‘arrogant’ Albanian drug dealer who hid his stash in a secret compartment under his car has been jailed after taking pictures boasting of his wealth.
Kelmend Tershalla was arrested in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, last year after being stopped by police.
The 22-year-old, who appeared in court with the assistance of an Albanian interpreter, has now been jailed for 25 months.
Sentencing him, a judge hit out at Tershalla for images of himself posing with cash, drugs and guns.
As it is his first conviction in the UK, the judge explained to him the sentence would be more severe if he offended again.
Peter Shaw, prosecuting at Aylesbury Crown Court on Tuesday, told how police had stopped a motor vehicle being driven by Tershalla at 5.15pm on October 25.
‘He was detained for the purposes of a drug search’, Mr Shaw said. ‘Underneath the front passenger seat, police found a concealed compartment.’
Thames Valley Police officers discovered cocaine in six individual vials as well as cannabis packaged in 31 coloured pots, with different strains packaged in different colours and five packs of cannabis vapes, the court heard.
Drug dealer Kelmend Tershalla, 22, was caught in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, last year after being stopped by police
A judge slammed his boastful photos of himself with cash, expensive cars and watches
Tershalla was also found with £319.47 in cash and had a mobile phone which was seized and downloaded by police.
‘Most of the messages contained on the phone were in Albanian, but from the small number of English messages, it was clear the defendant was being directed by a contact to provide cocaine and cannabis to users’, the prosecutor said.
‘The defendant appeared to be contacting users and arranging the supply of drugs.’
Tershalla gave a no comment interview to police and the court heard he has no previous convictions in the UK.
At a plea and trial preparation hearing, he had later admitted possession of a class A drug with intent to supply, possession of a class B drug with intent to supply and possessing criminal property.
Rhys Rosser, defending, said Tershalla was ‘entirely remorseful’ of his involvement in the drug dealing and that he had written to the court to indicate he was going to plead guilty at an early stage.
‘£319 is not indicative of significant financial gain’, Mr Rosser argued. ‘The defendant was being directed to supply drugs.’
Mr Recorder Simon Dyer KC said Tershalla was playing a lesser role in the drug enterprise, but said he had been ‘showing off’ in pictures recovered by police.
One image showed Tershalla holding what appears to be a gun, at a table covered in banknotes
Other images showed him boasting of expensive watches while displaying more cash
Tershalla also had photos of himself in flashy cars – he was originally stopped in a vehicle by police last October
The images show Tershalla posing with what appears to be a gun, with his hood up in a darkened room, while next to a table covered in banknotes.
Another showed Tershalla holding an expensive-looking watch over a pile of £20 notes and holding a wad of cash in front of his face.
Mr Recorder Dyer told him: ‘There is no relied upon evidence that puts you in a higher category of offending, although the court is not impressed by the rather arrogant showing off of cash, cars and guns, possibly, in the photographs.
‘I am prepared to put that down to your immaturity’, the judge added. ‘Your main mitigation is your age.’
The judge jailed Tershalla, of no fixed abode and who appeared by video link from HMP Bullingdon, for 25 months.
He added: ‘This is your first sentenced in a UK court. Were you to find yourself back here again, the sentence would be considerably longer.’
