Four Thanet drug dealers have been jailed

Police found online photos including Michael Danyo posing with two others

Four dealers who teamed up to sell drugs in Thanet and took selfies posing with the illicit money made from their sales, have been jailed for a total of more than 15 years.

Mohammed Gedi, Michael Danyo, Leon Davis, and Curtis Cooper were all sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court on Friday 1 June after admitting they worked together to supply Class A drugs to Margate.

As part of a year-long investigation into drug dealing in Margate, officers from the Operation Raptor team carried out a warrant at a property being used as the base by the dealers, and a stop-check of a car also provided police with the evidence needed to prove the four were working together.

On Thursday 7 September 2017 officers carried out a warrant at the home of 36-year-old Curtis Cooper in Canterbury Road, Margate. When police entered the flat, they detained Cooper and saw the bathroom door had been barricaded. When they forced the door open, they found 19-year-old Davis in the room and two other people had already climbed out of the bathroom window and were trying to escape over a flat roof.

Curtis Cooper

Officers outside the property stopped the two people, one who was identified as 22-year-old Gedi who was arrested. Cooper and Davis were also arrested.

A search of the flat uncovered more than 160 wraps of heroin and cocaine, as well as cash and mobile phones which showed evidence of drug dealing.

Leon Davis

Also found was a computer tablet, which contained photos of the four men taken at the Canterbury Road property, some posing with wads of cash and others pulling gangster-style poses.

On Monday 23 October, police were on duty in Grosvenor Place in Margate when they stopped a black Hyundai car. Cooper was driving the vehicle and one of his passengers was 29-year-old Danyo.

The two were arrested after officers found drug paraphernalia including a crack pipe, a cannabis grinder and weighing scales, along with over £800 in cash, and more mobile phones inside the car. Both men had more cash upon their person.

Michael Danyo

The photos on the tablet, together with the stop of the vehicle, provided investigating officers with the evidence needed to show they were all working together to supply drugs in Thanet and charges were authorised against them.

In court the four men each pleaded guilty to two charges to conspire to supply Class A drugs and the judge heard that Gedi and Danyo had been seen as the leaders of the criminal enterprise.

Gedi, who was already serving a 15-year prison sentence for other offences, was sentenced to an additional three-and-a-half years in prison.

Mohammed Gedi

Danyo, of Ethelbert Terrace in Margate was sentenced to nine years in prison.

Cooper, of Canterbury Road, Margate, was sentenced to 40 months in prison.

Davis, of Vale Road, Ramsgate, was sentenced to 14 months in prison.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Pete Frampton said: “The results in court have brought a successful conclusion to a year-long investigation into a drugs supply network within the Margate area.

“The judge said their drug-dealing operation was aimed at making drugs addicts in Margate dependent on them, purely to make money, with Gedi and Danyo leading the way.

Davis selfie

“These criminals were money-hungry and exploited vulnerable people to sell and buy their drugs. It was crucial they were stopped and brought before the courts.

“Our duty in Kent Police is to protect vulnerable people and we will continue to target those who think it’s acceptable to exploit people, sell illegal drugs, and bring fear and provocation of violence towards others in Thanet.”