'Sinister' drugs operation disguised £120,000 of drugs as sweets and chocolate to tempt children

A drug dealer who disguised £120,000 of drugs as sweets, chocolate and tortilla chips to make them appeal to children has been jailed.

Elliot Kennedy, 34, had a large-scale drug dealing business in Erdington, Birmingham, where West Midlands Police found packaging and posting labels, suggesting the drugs were being shipped internationally.

Police found psychedelic drugs Mescaline, magic mushrooms, cannabis, cocaine and MDMA.

When they broke down a reinforced metal security door to get in, Kennedy jumped out of the bedroom window.

He pleaded guilty to 23 counts of drugs possession and was jailed for seven and a half years at Birmingham Crown Court.

Detective Constable Holly Percival, from ROCU, said: “This was a significant drugs supply operation, which we've now crushed and removed a prominent drug dealer from our streets.

“The drugs trade often involves the exploitation of children and the fact Kennedy was manufacturing drugs to look like sweets and chocolate shows how sinister and dangerous this operation was.

“Drugs can not only cost lives, but is also linked to serious violence between drug gangs and other crimes, and there will be no let-up in our work to tackle those involved in the illegal supply of them."