Yardie drug pusher had asked for UK asylum

Mamadou Diallo was jailed for 30 months at Edinburgh Sheriff Court yesterday after admitting selling cocaine to undercover police officers.

The 32-year-old, who sold drugs worth £2000 to the covert team, was the last of 56 men and women targeted as part of Operation Advance.

The operation was launched after around 20 Yardie gangsters from Birmingham, the West Midlands and London moved to the Capital in a bid to flood the city with crack cocaine. They included dealers originally from Jamaica, Trinidad, Tanzania and Gambia.

Operation Advance has now produced 42 convictions for gang members who received a total of 48 years in prison, including a number of three and four-year jail terms. A total of £31,506 in drugs and £16,835 in cash was recovered.

The court heard yesterday that Diallo had left Guinea in 2003 after fleeing to the UK claiming he had been tortured for attending political rallies in his homeland. He was granted “indefinite” leave to stay as an asylum seeker, and later married and had two children.

Diallo, who lived in Duddingston Row, was convicted of selling cocaine to undercover officers on various occasions between June 17 and June 29 last year in West Bowling Green Street, Connaught Place and Craighall Road.

The officers, known as “Danny” and “Al”, had been attempting to establish the identities of new dealers trying to take over part of the cocaine market in Edinburgh.

The court heard that Diallo contacted them by phone after receiving their mobile numbers from another suspect, named “Karim”, and offered to sell them “white powder” which was “95 per cent pure” in exchange for branded goods or cash.

A solicitor for Diallo told the court yesterday that her client only became involved to acquire cheap branded goods in the deals.

But the court heard that Diallo received £1200 in cash in one deal, and had discussed selling larger amounts to the officers for money on conversations recorded by police.

Sheriff Derrick McIntyre jailed Diallo for 30 months and ordered that £2300 found in his home during a police raid should be seized as drug profits.

Operation Advance was mounted by police after they learned that Yardie dealers were selling crack cocaine from public places in Leith, including play parks, as well as from their own homes. The dealers were also trying to hook existing heroin addicts and other drug users on crack.

Detectives believe the gang intended to build up the trade locally before attempting to spread across the city.

Detective Superintendent David Gordon said that Operation Advance had taken a year to carry out. He added: “We received intelligence that approximately 20 individuals from England had moved to Edinburgh and were selling crack cocaine and trying to recruit local dealers.

“They spoke of being connected with Yardie gangsters in London, using threats and violence to induce people to work for them. They were also working with several well-established drug dealers from the Leith area.

“This operation illustrates that Edinburgh is a hostile environment for this kind of criminality, which will not be tolerated.”