A DRUG dealer who travelled from London to Southend to flood the streets with cocaine and heroin has been jailed for half a decade after being chased through the town centre by police.

Claudio Tunio was spotted by police on patrol “behaving suspiciously” in Chichester Road, Southend, at about 3pm on February 16, Basildon Crown Court heard.

The court was told the 28-year-old “was looking at police out of the corner of his eye”, leading them to follow him slowly before the dealer took off and ran.

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Members of the public saw Tunio throw wraps of drugs under a van as he fled, the court was told.

When he was finally caught by police Tunio “became aggressive” and had to be restrained from hitting his head on the ground, the court heard.

Police found on him £180, two ‘burner’ mobile phones, and under the van police found 35 wraps of cocaine and heroin.

In his sentencing remarks, Judge Shane Collery said: “You were obstructive and aggressive towards police.

“You were caught with class A drugs and two burner phones that were constantly ringing on the way to the station.

“You were in possession of a substantial quantity of drugs and plainly had awareness of the scale of the operation.

He added: “For somebody of just 28 you have a significant amount of previous convictions, 15 for 37 offences beginning in 2007.”

A search of an address Tunio had been staying at in Queen Mary Court uncovered a further 142 wraps of class A drugs – valued at £17,070 – along with 20 grams of cannabis, scales and other drug equipment.

A police drugs expert undertook a forensic investigation of the seized phones and concluded that messages were “consistent with the supply of crack cocaine and heroin with a number of marketing messages and incoming and outgoing calls”, the court was told.

Tunio, of Trinity Gardens, Canning Town, was sentenced to five years and six months’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to two counts of possessing a controlled drug of class A with intent and one count of possessing a controlled drug of class B.

The Crown Prosecution service has further submitted an application for forfeiture of cash found on Tunio.