Iraqi Asylum Seeker Jailed for Cannabis Dealing in Swansea

An asylum seeker was caught red-handed selling cannabis on the streets of Swansea, a court has heard. 🚨

Shalw Jamel, 29, an Iraqi Kurd living in Birmingham, was observed by plain clothes officers conducting a drug deal on December 17 last year at the corner of St Helen’s Road and St Helen’s Avenue.

Officers witnessed Jamel selling two 5g bags of cannabis for £50 to a man in a VW Golf. When searched, the defendant was found with another eight 5g cannabis deals, more than £900 in cash, a phone, and sets of car and house keys.

Despite denying selling cannabis during his interview, claiming he worked in a car wash for £40 a week on top of “government subsidies,” police found evidence linking him to a bedsit in Sandfields where his asylum registration card was discovered under a mattress.

Judge Geraint Walters stated: “Like many other cities around the UK, Swansea was awash with foreign criminals often involved in the drugs trade.”

With a 20% discount for his guilty plea, Jamel was sentenced to 12 months in prison, of which he will serve up to half before being released on licence. The judge also ordered the forfeiture of the money found on Jamel, directing it to South Wales Police to assist them “in their continued battle against those who blight out streets by dealing in controlled substances.”