An accomplished young footballer was found with heroin and crack cocaine in his boxer shorts and a knife wrapped in paper when he was stopped by police. A total of 26 wraps of class A drugs were found in total.
Falikou Traore, 21, had moved to Cardiff to play football but got caught up in drug dealing after falling into debt. He was arrested by police on December 1 last year after he was seen dealing drugs to known users.
A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Friday heard Traore was spotted by plainclothes police officers in Roath Park with three other men, one of whom walked to a bush to smoke crack cocaine after their meeting. The defendant was detained by police and found in possession of a red iPhone, £624 in cash, a white handled knife wrapped in paper to avoid leaving fingerprints, and a small bag of cannabis.
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Prosecutor John Ryan said Traore was taken to Cardiff Bay police station where a strip search took place and a black package was discovered in his boxer shorts. Inside the package was 16 wraps of heroin, weighing 0.81g each, and 10 wraps of crack cocaine, weighing 0.2g each. The total value of the drugs came to £520.
Traore, of HMP Cardiff, gave a no comment interview but later pleaded guilty to two counts of possession with intent to supply class A drugs and possession of a bladed article. He was of previous good character.
Defence barrister Ieuan Bennett said his client moved to London from the Ivory Coast as a teenager and later moved to Cardiff with his sister before moving into his own rented accommodation. He described the defendant as a "fitness fanatic" and a "capable sportsman" who didn't take drugs or drink alcohol.
He said Traore got into trouble in affording his rent and received a £2,000 fine after neighbours reported him hosting a house party during the Covid lockdown. Mr Bennett said said the defendant was "over his head" in debt and became involved in the drugs trade as a result.
Sentencing, Recorder Robin Rouch said it was an "aggravating feature" he was dealing in the park while in possession of a knife, due to the presence of children playing nearby. He sentenced Traore to a total of 30 months imprisonment, of which he will serve half before serving the remainder on licence.
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