Southend drug dealer who posed with bundles of cash jailed

Ricardo Garcia De Oliveira Filho – an illegal immigrant from Brazil – was caught in Southend with 21 wraps of cocaine hidden inside two vapes.

“It should be automatic, but I recommend that you are deported,” Judge Shane Collery KC told him at Basildon Crown Court on Thursday (March 5).

“Having done this, you are not welcome here anymore.”

The 21-year-old, who was living in Frederick Crescent, Enfield, wept on the prison video link as his barrister described how he had come to the UK to try to make money for his mother and six-year-old sister, who has stomach cancer.

Ricardo Garcia De Oliveira Filho was jailed for 28 months and recommended for deportation (Image: Essex Police)

Prosecutor Kemi Fapohunda said Essex Police had noticed a car in Southend late at night on December 15, driving around with no lights on.

They signalled at him but he took no notice, so they followed it along London Road. It stopped in Southbourne Grove, Westcliff.

“He told the police that he had only bought the car two days ago off his friend and that his friend had driven it to him on that day – the day that he was stopped by the police,” said Mrs Fapohunda.

“He said that he had picked it up from Victoria Station at about 6pm that day and he said that it was his first tm in Southend, h had spent the evening at the beach and he was now heading home to Enfield."

But police could see his phone sat nav was open and he was heading to an address in Southend.

“He also showed the police a document to show the vehicle was in his name, but where the owner’s name was supposed to be, that part had been cut out,” said the prosecutor.

Ricardo Filho had taken photo evidence of his own criminal activity, holding wads of cash and drugs (Image: Essex Police)

“Police requested an ANPR check on the vehicle and it showed that the vehicle had been very active in the past two days within south Essex and that it had been in and out of the Southend area a number of times after 6pm that day.”

When the registered owner of the car was contacted, they said they had paid for it to be scrapped.

Police searched Filho and the car and found two vapes in the centre console – one blue, one pink – hidden inside which were the 21 drugs wraps.

Interviewed by police, he claimed they had been for personal use – but when police gained access to his phone, they found drug dealing messages, photos of Filho holding drugs, including a large rock of heroin, and photos of him posing with wads of cash.

When he got to crown court, he pleaded guilty to possession of Class A drugs with intent to supply, and driving without insurance.

Defence barrister Ann Tayo described her client as “very immature”, telling the judge: “The human brain does not fully develop until the age of 25. Young people don’t necessarily consider the consequences of their actions.

“He was raised by a single mother in a home where there was domestic violence. He is very, very close to his mother and wanted to be able to provide for her and his younger sister in coming to the United Kingdom.

“He was working in construction and work dried up. He was unable to pay his rent of £180 per week and that is when he succumbed to the temptation of earning an income illegitimately.

Another photo Ricardo Filho took of himself fanning out cash (Image: Essex Police)

“He didn’t have anyone else in this country and no recourse to public funds… His main concern at the time was in order to be able to live and actually, his words were to survive.

“So his involvement was through naivety, immaturity and also just wanting to be able to feed and provide for himself.”

She added: “The defendant has a six-year-old sister who has stomach cancer and he used to FaceTime her every day prior to being arrested… He actually wanted to be deported because he is concerned as to her state of wellbeing.

“He told me that he has signed papers with the immigration authorities and he just wants to fly back to Brazil.”

Judge Collery told Filho: “You are now 21 years of age and a Brazilian national who is an overstayer in this country.

“I am not going to repeat the facts as outlined by the Crown, other than to say that on the 16th December last year you were in possession of a significant quantity of drugs and you were actively involved in drug trafficking.

“When interviewed about the matter, you lied.

“You have no convictions in this country. There is an absence of evidence as to whether you have convictions in Brazil.

“There are guidelines to assist judges in helping to find the right sentence in such cases. I take the view that there are elements of bother significant and, to a lesser extent, lesser role characteristics.

“I take the view that you had an operational role in a chain. You were delivering drugs and taking payment on the direction of others, but you were also receiving orders through your own phone direct.

“It is not a limited function under direction to actively engage in the actual drug trafficking.

“You plainly had some awareness of the scale of the drug trafficking, not least because you had 21 deals on you on that day.

“In addition, there is your tattooed hand visible in a photo weighing a large rock of what appears to be heroin. In addition, there are photos you kept of you holding large bundles of cash.

“So whilst at times you were performing a role under direction, this is in my view more than simply a limited function.”

He sentenced Filho to 28 months and recommended his deportation.