An armed drug dealer has been jailed for more than eight years after Police intercepted him during plain clothes patrols in Birmingham.
Officers from our organised crime unit were on the lookout for people linked to gangs when they spotted Theo Sterling on 20 January acting suspiciously in a car.
The Ford Fiesta he was driving was pulled over in Summer Lane, Newtown, and a search later revealed a stash of drugs hidden inside his pants.
Officer’s recovered 28 wraps of Class A drugs, including heroin, crack cocaine and cocaine with a street value of £390.
And when officers searched Sterling’s home in Gee Street they uncovered a Sig self-loading pistol in his bedroom and a magazine loaded with 13 9mm bullets.
The 26-year-old claimed the drugs were for personal use but we found text messages on his phone reading ‘on’ and ‘fire’ that had been sent to around 20 people in a matter of seconds on the evening he was arrested.
It’s understood they were code words advertising that he was touring the area with drugs for sale.
Sterling appeared at Birmingham Crown Court on Friday (10 July) where he was jailed for eight years and four months having admitted drug dealing and gun possession.
Detective Constable Paul Knowles from our gangs unit, said: “Sterling initially claimed other people had access to his bedroom and the gun could have been planted by someone else – but he eventually admitted possessing the weapon.
“We’ve stepped up our work in Newtown, Handsworth, Aston and other parts of Birmingham; we’re disrupting and arresting people with links to gangs and firearms.
“Some of the police presence is marked patrols for reassurance but, as was the case with Sterling’s arrest, we have plain clothes officers out there on the lookout for offenders.”
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