A cocaine and heroin dealer who was an ‘active part of a hugely commercial enterprise’ has been jailed.

Amar Ahmed, of Higher Antley Street, Accrington, ‘directed or organised the buying and selling of drugs on a commercial scale’ over several months, a court heard.

The 26-year-old sent and received hundreds of calls and messages to customers and claimed he had the ‘biggest and baddest deals in town’.

Ahmed was first arrested in November 2015 after initially managing to evade police, and ‘appeared agitated and under the influence of drugs himself’, Burnley Crown Court heard.

Daniel Prowse, prosecuting, said following his arrest a ‘number of mobile phones in his possession were ringing constantly’.

The court heard how he was released on police bail but then arrested again in January 2016 and was found with cash stuffed down his socks.

Mr Prowse said examination of his mobile phones showed a number of advertising ‘flare’ messages had been sent from it, including references to ‘Colombian crack cocaine’ and ‘Afghan heroin’.

One, sent to 70 different numbers, read: “Back on. Best in town. Biggest and baddest deals. Three for 25, six for 50. Back to normal. On til late. 24/7.”

Mr Prowse said: “There were texts to the defendant which suggests he is dealing directly as well as directing operations. Stored within his phones are many numbers that are for public telephone boxes.

“He is directing or organising the buying and selling of drugs on a commercial scale and advertising on a regular basis.”

Ahmed pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine and heroin and possessing crack cocaine and heroin with intent to supply.

He was jailed for four years and four months.

Robert Elias, defending, said Ahmed’s IQ is in the ‘bottom one per cent of the population’ and cast doubt on suggestions that he had “a leading role”.

He told the court: “The flare messages are written in English - and in legible, sensible English, not ‘text speak’.

This defendant is just simply not capable of composing proper written English.

“His intellectual age is 10 years and nine months. It may be that he can deal, run about, but to suggest he has management skills? This is not someone who has great intellectual capacity.

“There’s no evidence of him having an affluent lifestyle or lots of money or being a drug baron.”

Judge Beverley Lunt ruled that Ahmed ‘operated a management function while under instruction from others and for financial gain’.

Sentencing, she said: “All of the parties say you have a real problem because you can’t read or write.

“Well that’s obviously true to an extent but you could read and did read texts from drug addicts ordering drugs, you were capable of organising the supply of those drugs in the correct amounts, taking the correct amounts of money off the drug addicts and getting those sums correct.

“I accept most of that money - if not all of it - was handed on to others.

“Nevertheless you were a very active part of a hugely commercial enterprise.

“I’m also satisfied that the advertising texts are hugely unlikely to have been written by you.

“That would fly in the face of everything that I’ve read about you and your abilities.

“But the length of time you were involved in this dealing and the level and volume of drugs is evidenced by all the text traffic, the various phones all recovered from you and the amount of drugs found on you when you were twice stopped by the police.”