A cocaine dealer caught with high purity powder is behind bars – thanks to "dogged detective work".

Lewis Allen appeared at Newcastle Crown Court, where he was jailed for six years for running an illicit cocaine business, valued at more than £164,000.

Allen was arrested back in October 2019 when officers caught him driving with no insurance. A search of his vehicle recovered a number of small bags of cocaine believed to be worth £1,000.

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He was released under investigation and a month later, came to the attention of police once again.

This time officers spotted him driving a different car – and then followed him into an address on Dene Road, Sheepwash in Northumberland.

Here they saw Allen holding a plastic bottle filled with white powder – which he then flung away.

Allen was arrested and taken into custody, with ensuring inquiries confirming the powder was a high purity cocaine with an estimated value of £13,000.

Expert financial investigators then set about finding evidence of Allen’s shady business and before long, found multiple third-party credits had been deposited into his bank accounts in small amounts.

They calculated that over a three-year period he had been paid a total of £164,364.

This evidence was presented to the courts and the 28-year-old, of Linslade Walk in Cramlington was jailed after previously pleading guilty to concealing criminal property and two counts of possession with intent to supply cocaine.

Despite being behind bars, Allen will face the courts once more and have a judge determine just exactly how much money he made through his illicit activity, and will eventually make a ruling and order him to pay a sum back, as part of the Proceeds of Crime Act.

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Detective Chief Inspector Chris Riley of Northumbria Police’s Crime department said: “Crime definitely does not pay and the sooner people like Allen realise this the better.

“Supplying harmful, addictive and illegal substances to our communities causes nothing but harm and we will not tolerate it.

“Thanks to a careful and detailed investigation into Allen’s finances, a picture of his supply network was built up, with the payments he received clearly demonstrating how much money he was making and how often he was selling the Class A drugs.

“I am pleased Allen is now behind bars with a Proceeds of Crime hearing pending. As part of Operation Sentinel, we will continue to tackle drug supply and place offenders before the courts.”