A DRUG dealer being chauffeured by his girlfriend was jailed after police caught him with high purity cocaine and crack cocaine.

Newport trafficker Michael Bajjada was followed by police from the Pill area of the city through to Cardiff where he was pulled over on the M4 motorway.

Prosecutor Paul Hewitt said officers spotted the defendant behaving “suspiciously” in a Seat being driven on the Southern Distributor Road.

At Cardiff Crown Court, Judge Nicola Jones heard how the car was followed along the motorway where it was driving slowly in the middle lane.

The 26-year-old Bajjada, formerly of Newport, but now of no fixed abode, was a passenger in the car which had his then-partner at the wheel.

When the Seat was stopped in the Welsh capital on February 2, the defendant was found to be carrying, both on him, and in the car, 109 grams of class A drugs.

He also had £3,000 in cash, grip seal bags, SIM cards, weighing scales and a calculator.

The drugs were analysed and some of the crack cocaine had a purity of up to 80% while the cocaine tested at levels of 74% and 72%.

Phone analysis also uncovered texts relating to dealing.

Mr Hewitt said Bajjada had five previous convictions for 11 offences but none for trafficking drugs.

The defendant, a father, pleaded guilty to possessing a controlled drug of class A with intent to supply and possessing cannabis.

Hywel Davies, mitigating, said his client was dealing to fund his own habit.

The court heard Bajjada was affected by the death of his grandfather who he was close to.

Mr Davies said the defendant would look to educate himself in prison while serving the inevitable custodial sentence.

Judge Nicole Jones jailed Bajjada for a total of three years and three months and ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the drugs.