Ipswich drug dealer Olkedi Lika jailed for 31 months after providing fraudulent driving licence to police

A 26-year-old drug dealer from Suffolk who provided fraudulent documents to police has been jailed.

Olkedi Lika, of Wherstead Road in Ipswich, was given a 31-month custodial sentence at Ipswich Crown Court yesterday.

Suffolk Constabulary’s South Sentinel team stopped a silver Nissan Qashqai on Franciscan Way in Ipswich on August 31 and Lika introduced himself, using his mobile phone to produce a picture of a driving licence with his name and photograph.

Officers suspected the licence was false and Lika was detained for a search.

Further investigations led to evidence of involvement in the supply of Class A drugs.

Lika initially gave officers a false home address, but a further address was located in Wherstead Road, Ipswich.

The property was searched and an approximate 0.5kilogram block of cocaine was found, with a street value of around £15,000, along with individual deals of cocaine, drug dealing paraphernalia and £6,871 in cash.

After being arrested and questioned for a number of offences, Lika was charged with possession with intent to supply (PWITS) cocaine, possession of criminal property, possession of an identification document with intent, driving without insurance and driving without a licence and remanded in custody.

Lika pleaded guilty at court to all offences and was sentenced to 31 months of imprisonment for PWITS cocaine with concurrent sentences of six months for both the criminal property and counterfeit document offences.

In addition to the forfeiture and destruction of the drugs, paraphernalia and his phone, the court ordered that the cash be forfeited under Section 27 of the Misuse of Drugs Act, alongside his vehicle.

Rob Ostler, an investigator within the Sentinel South team, said: “In just over six weeks, with valuable assistance from a number of teams across the constabulary, a drug dealer was charged, remanded, convicted and sentenced, while half a kilogram of cocaine was removed from our streets along with £6,871, which was the proceeds of Lika’s criminal activity.

“This is a great result and further proof that the Sentinel Team is actively targeting those trying to profit from organised crime in the Ipswich area.”