A drug dealer who was operating out of Swindon has been jailed for more than five years following an operation by the Wiltshire Police’s specialist squad, Fortitude.
Sulaman Keynan, 23, of White Hart Lane, Tottenham, London, pleaded guilty to three counts of supplying Class A drugs and one count of possessing criminal property in a trial at Swindon Crown Court on October 26.
He was sentenced to five years and three months in prison, of which he must serve at least half behind bars and then the remainder out on licence with conditions.
Thousands of pounds in cash and drug paraphernalia seized during his arrest in September 2021 were also forfeited.
Keynan was caught running the ‘Chrissy’ line in Swindon – a cross county lines drug supply network.
He was arrested in Swindon in September last year by the Swindon Community Policing Team for an unrelated offence and was found in possession of a burner phone, £2,266 in cash, cannabis resin, heroin wraps and scales.
He was released under investigation but spent September to May in prison after breaching a suspended sentence.
In the middle of May, the Fortitude team began receiving intelligence the Chrissy line was active.
Using a number of tactics, the Fortitude team identified that he was travelling to London from Swindon via train and in conjunction with the British Transport Police, combed through hours of CCTV footage of Keynan coming in and out of train stations.
On June 28, the Fortitude team and members of Operation Orochi – the Met Police’s county lines unit – executed an early morning warrant on Keynan’s home address in London, where he was arrested.
He was then brought back to Swindon, charged, and remanded in custody.
PC Sam Young said: “This is the third time Keynan has been convicted of drugs offences and he’s now facing a lengthy sentence behind bars.
“His conviction shows that if you come to Swindon with the intention to supply drugs or run county lines networks then we will track you down, no matter where you are in the country.
“This sends a clear signal that drugs will not be tolerated in Swindon or anywhere else in Wiltshire.”