Men sentenced for selling heroin and cocaine in south Bristol

Three men have admitted running a Class A drugs operation supplying heroine and cocaine in south Bristol.

Shomari Kondwani, 32, of Linnell Close, Bristol controlled the mobile phone which users would contact to buy the drugs.

Kemar Watson, 20, of Selbrooke Crescent, Bristol and Kavel Hines-Hastings, 20, of Cottrell Road, Bristol, were two of Kondwani’s couriers who would deliver the drugs on his behalf.

All three have been sentenced at Bristol Crown Court after previously admitting two counts of being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs.

Watson and Hines-Hastings also each admitted two charges of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs during an earlier hearing.

The trio were caught after officers found wraps of cocaine and heroin on a man they had stopped in the Bedminster area on 29 July.

They established the drugs had been ordered and bought via a phone registered to Kondwani.

When offices stopped him in his car a few days later, they recovered the phone and found it had been used to orchestrate the whole operation.

On the same day, officers searched a property on Hollidge Gardens in Southville where they found Watson and Hines-Hastings along with nearly £2,000 worth of Class A drugs.

Kondwani was jailed for four years and eight months and was made the subject of a six-year Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO).

Watson was jailed for two years and six months and given a four-year CBO while Hines-Hastings was handed a 20-month prison sentence, suspended for two years. 

Hines-Hastings was also given a two-year CBO and told to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.

South Bristol Inspector Chris Green said: “Those who sell illegal drugs are the scourge of society.

"They cause significant harm to communities not only by facilitating the habits of vulnerable people but by increasing anti-social behaviour and acquisitive crime as they look to fund their addictions.

“While not in this instance, those behind the sale of drugs are often also involved in high levels of violence, sometimes involving weapons, as well as the exploitation and abuse of other vulnerable adults and children."