THREE drug dealers have been jailed after police smelt cannabis in their car.
Wasim Akbar, 18, of Baldwin Court, Radford, Aqeeb Hussain, 19, of Grant Street, Radford, and Asad Asif, 23, of Eskdale Drive, Aspley, were sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday October 17.
The trio received five and a half years between them, with Akbar sentenced to two years in a young offenders' institution and Asif handed 18 months in jail.
Hussain was given two years in prison and also convicted of supplying and possession of cannabis on a separate charge, and sentenced to a further one year one month to run concurrently.
They each pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing and convicted of possession with intent to supply MDMA.
All three were caught by police on Sunday March 9 when officers saw them acting suspiciously. Police stopped a car which smelt strongly of cannabis off Ilkeston Road at 12.20am.
They were arrested after police found all three with large cash bundles and three wraps of MDMA powder.
Further searches revealed the trappings of a drug dealing business, with 250g of MDMA, cannabis and business cards linked to Hussain in Akbar's car.
Evidence from seized phones showed that they were supplying drugs across Nottingham city centre, The Meadows, Radford, Beeston and Wollaton.
PC Tom Andrews, from Nottinghamshire Police, said: "This result came about as a result of a routine traffic stop, which led to the occupants being stopped and searched.
"Stop and search is a contentious issue, but this shows that if used correctly it can have a beneficial outcome for our communities.
"In this case three drug dealers have been given significant custodial sentences, taking them and their drugs off the streets of Nottingham.
"Akbar stated that an addiction to cannabis and a debt to a drug dealer had led to his involvement. This shows that any drug can, and does, lead on to more serious criminality."
Any money proven to have been earned by the men selling drugs will be invested back into the community by the force.
