Sutton Coldfield dealer Elliot Kennedy disguised drugs as chocolate at his huge enterprise in Erdington

A drug dealer with a large enterprise in Birmingham, who disguised drugs as sweets and chocolate and posted them to buyers has been jailed.

Police raided Elliot Kennedy’s large-scale drug dealing base in Witton Lodge Road, Erdington, in March 2022 - and found £121,000 worth of drugs which belonged to the dealer from Sutton Coldfield.

A large volume of edibles were made to appeal to children with packaging making them look like sweets and chocolate, officers said. They also seized psychedelic drugs Mescaline - which was disguised as tortilla chips - and magic mushrooms, alongside cannabis, cocaine and MDMA.

Officers found a large volume of packaging and postage labels, including reels of international customs declaration stickers, suggesting the drugs were being shipped internationally. Officers were able to put an end to the 34-year-old’s drug dealing operation after acting on information and obtaining a search warrant.

Officers from the West Midlands Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU) had to break through a reinforced metal security door to get into the drugs base, as well as a wooden door blocked off from the inside and braced with wooden bars.

Kennedy jumped out of the bedroom window as officers broke down the doors, however following a foot chase he was quickly caught and arrested. Kennedy, of Plantsbrook Road, Sutton Coldfield, pleaded guilty to 23 counts of drugs possession. He was jailed for seven and a half years at Birmingham Crown Court on Friday (June 23).

Detective Constable Holly Percival, from ROCU, said: “This was a significant drugs supply operation, which we’ve now crushed and removed a prominent drug dealer from our streets. The drugs trade often involves the exploitation of children and the fact Kennedy was manufacturing drugs to look like sweets and chocolate shows how sinister and dangerous this operation was.

“Drugs can not only cost lives, but are also linked to serious violence between drug gangs and other crimes, and there will be no let-up in our work to tackle those involved in the illegal supply of them."