Savdhul Zaman, 25, was the landlord of a house in Stainton Street, North Ormesby, where the huge drugs haul was uncovered in a police raid. The house stank of cannabis, Teesside Crown Court heard.Prosecutors believe the drugs - worth almost £12,000 - were part of a four-kilo consignment.
Prosecutor Jolyon Perks said: “The manner of the packaging is consistent with those kilogram bags being obtained directly from those who either import the drug into the country or produce it within the UK on a commercial basis.
“The amount found was most probably being readied for supply to dealers.”
One-time England international amateur boxer Zaman, of Westbourne Grove, North Ormesby, denied distributing or using any drug.But yesterday a jury unanimously convicted the former Middlesbrough light welterweight star of conspiracy to supply Class C drug.John Coltman, 27, of Longlands Road, Middlesbrough, was also convicted of the conspiracy between October 1, 2005 and December 8, 2006.Zameer Ahmed, 25, of Pickering Road, Thornaby, admitted the charge. The three will be sentenced on March 12.“The prosecution say that each defendant played a role in the onward supply of this consignment,” said Mr Perks.Ahmed was found with £1,200 cash at an address in Percy Street, Middlesbrough on December 7, 2006. He had a key to the Stainton Street home.Police forced the door of that house, where Coltman and Ahmed were living.Next to Coltman’s bed, officers found a suitcase containing two double-bagged packages of 999g cannabis, each worth about £8,400.A bin bag at the foot of the stairs contained 17 ounce “deals” of cannabis, worth about £3,400.It also revealed four heavy duty kilo bags tied and rolled up inside each other, containing a parcel of one third of a kilo of cannabis.This, claimed Mr Perks, was the remnants of another two kilos.There was also a set of scales and a tin in a wardrobe, containing four ounce deals.Detective Constable Jim Devine, an experienced drugs officer, said users and street dealers would not come into contact with such large quantities of the drug.The fingerprints of Ahmed, Bellamy and Zaman were found on the various items, Zaman’s on 15 of the 17 ounce bags and on packaging ties.Zaman claimed he did not know of illegal activity at the house.He said he came into contact with the packages innocently, gathering up bags while tidying the messy house, which he intended to sell.A fourth man Richard Bellamy, 23, from Wharncliffe Side, Sheffield - alleged to be a courier - was cleared of conspiracy.He said he handled bags selecting drugs as a user.But he could still be jailed in Sheffield for convictions there of possessing cannabis with intent to supply and possession of a stun gun.
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