A DRUG dealer was jailed after he sold crack cocaine to undercover police officers six times and tried to palm off fake heroin to them.

Mohammed Abbas, 21, from Newport, was stung following Gwent Police’s covert Operation Solar which saw him duped into peddling class A drugs to them.

On one occasion, the defendant sold high grade crack cocaine to cops which had a purity of 92 per cent.

Prosecutor Thomas Stanway said: “On six occasions he supplied crack cocaine to undercover officers and attempted to supply heroin once – but that wasn’t heroin, it was a cutting agent made up of caffeine and paracetamol.”

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He told Cardiff Crown Court how Abbas sold £10 or £20 street deals to the officers in Newport after meeting them at different locations in the city.

These were under the George Street Bridge, along Corporation Road and Bishton Street between October 31 and December 19, 2019.

The purity of the crack cocaine varied from between 55% to 92%.

Mr Stanway said that when the officers complained about the dud heroin, Abbas sold them £20 of crack cocaine at half price.

The defendant, of Vivian Road, pleaded guilty to six counts of supplying class A drugs and one of attempting to supply a class A drug.

He had one previous conviction which was for the possession of cannabis in 2018.

Gareth Williams, representing Abbas, said the defendant was a former St Julians School and Coleg Gwent student who had studied to become a mechanic.

He told the court how his client has worked at Wilko and The Range stores.

Mr Williams said the best mitigation he could put forward was Abbas’ immediate guilty pleas.

Judge Jeremy Jenkins told the defendant: “You were caught as a result of Operation Solar which saw police officers deployed to identify street dealers.

“The high purity deals show how close you were to the original source of manufacture.”

He jailed Abbas for three years and eight months.