A man from High Wycombe has been sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for dealing cocaine in Buckinghamshire after a police search uncovered a quantity of the drug with a street value of around £15,000.
26-year-old Josh Vaux was sentenced on the 5th August following a Thames Valley Police investigation and subsequent trial at Aylesbury Crown Court.
Vaux was arrested in August 2020 when his drug dealing activity was discovered after Police received information from Operation Venetic - a response to the takedown of online encrypted platform EnchroChat.
He was seen to be involved in purchasing cocaine between March and August in 2020, regularly meeting with two other men to exchange drugs and money in the High Wycombe, Aylesbury and Princes Risborough areas.
The two other men, Zaakir Shah, aged 25 from Little Kimble and Scott Bryant, aged 60, from Aylesbury, were sentenced to seven and a half years each in December 2021.
When police searched addresses linked to the three men they found just under 400g of cocaine, around £21,000 in cash, as well as drug dealing paraphernalia including scales.
A Volkswagen Golf and a Mercedes van were also seized. Inside the car officers found a device designed to detect the radio frequency of police vehicles and inside the van they found a hidden compartment which is believed to be how Vaux concealed the drugs in transit.
Investigating officer, Detective Constable Beck Hurley-Brydon, of the Serious Organised Crime Unit, said: “I am pleased that Vaux has received a custodial sentence as a result of a brilliant proactive investigation by the Serious Organised Crime Unit.
“Vaux was part of a group who utilised sophisticated technology to commit their crimes and he will now join his two counterparts in prison. They were convicted and sentenced at the end of last year.
“I hope this serves as an example that we do not tolerate the purchasing and distribution of drugs in our communities and will work tirelessly to bring offenders to justice.
“If you have any information about drugs in your communities, please report this to us by calling 101 or via our website.
“You can also make anonymous reports through the independent charity Crimestoppers by calling 0800 555 111 or via the charity’s website.”