Peterborough drug runner who sold crack cocaine and heroin jailed

A drugs “runner” who admitted selling crack cocaine and heroin in Peterborough has been jailed.

Jose Fernandes Djaite, 19, was arrested on May 24 in Cathedral Square as part of an operation into class A drug dealing and exploitation in the city.

Following months of intelligence gathering, Djaite was identified as working for the ‘money’ drugs line which sold crack cocaine and heroin between Cambridge and Peterborough.

In interview with detectives, he admitted dealing drugs or acting as lookout for others while they dealt.

Djaite, of High Street, Fletton, appeared at Cambridge Crown Court on (November 28) where he was sentenced to two years in prison after previously admitting being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin, as well as three counts of supplying crack cocaine.

Detective Constable Jacob Reeves, who investigated, said: “We work relentlessly to tackle those causing harm to our communities through drug dealing and exploitation. So far as part of this operation, we have seen 12 people handed prison sentences, with more in the pipeline.

“Using our own information, various policing tactics and information from the public, we are able to carry out this work and disrupt criminal networks.”

Following a week-long trial which concluded on Friday (November 24), an associate of Djaite who was investigated alongside him – 35-year-old Guilherme Mendes, of Cam Causeway, Cambridge – was found not guilty of being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin, and acquiring criminal property, namely designer clothing.

A third man – 23-year-old Hugo Chessapa – was jailed for three-and-a-half years last month after admitting being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin.

Djaite is the twelfth person to be sentenced as part of Operation Tsunami, a crackdown on exploitation and illegal drugs in Peterborough.

The enforcement phase, which ran throughout May, has so far seen 48 people arrested with 21 of those charged with 84 drug offences, and 12 people sentenced to a total of more than 35 years in prison.