Dealer of 'dangerous' synthetic opioid jailed

Brian Hollywood was jailed for 11 years at York Crown Court on Tuesday

A North Yorkshire drug dealer has been jailed for 11 years for attempting to distribute a potentially fatal synthetic opioid.

Drugs seized by police from Brian Hollywood, 30, in January were initially thought to be class C Xanax, however further tests discovered they were class A nitazenes.

Hollywood, of Spring Bank, Scarborough, previously admitted three counts of possession with intent to supply a class A drug and was jailed at York Crown Court on Tuesday.

Det Insp Amber Carey, of North Yorkshire Police, said: "The risk that nitazenes pose is significant and Hollywood demonstrated he has no regard for the potential devastation he could cause when supplying such dangerous substances."

Nitazenes are an "extremely potent" synthetic opioid linked to drug deaths all around the UK, the force said.

Seven deaths linked to nitazenes have been recorded in the county in the last two years.

• What are nitazenes?

The officer added: "Drug dealers like Brian Hollywood bring nothing but anguish to our communities.

"The tenacity and drive to secure justice by the officer in the case, supported by intelligence and neighbourhood policing team officers, demonstrates we will do all we can to clamp down on such offenders and take them off our streets."

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