Dealer jailed over crack cocaine drugs lab garage

Mahtar Sohna was jailed for six years at Nottingham Crown Court

A dealer has been jailed after a "sophisticated" drugs lab was found in a garage.

Mahtar Sohna, 50, was later arrested after police raided an address in Lily Lane, Newark, which was found to make crack cocaine.

Officers also found cocaine with a street value of £12,000, a kilogram of cannabis, MDMA and amphetamines.

Sohna, of Blyton Walk, Bestwood, Nottingham, was jailed for six years at Nottingham Crown Court on Wednesday.

Detectives were first alerted to the property when UK Border Force officers intercepted five parcels containing Class A drugs addressed to the home.

In May 2021, Nottinghamshire Police carried out a raid and discovered laboratory equipment including glass beakers, a magnetic stirrer, deal bags and a machine to package the drugs in an external garage.

Police found items used to make Class A drugs in a Newark garage

It is believed the laboratory was being used to produce cocaine and other drugs, the court heard.

Evidence on mobile phones found in the raid led detectives to Sohna - with a further raid at his home in Blyton Walk.

Police said officers found further amounts of cocaine and cannabis as well as drug-dealing equipment.

Evidence found on Sohna's mobile phone also revealed his involvement in the production, manufacture and sale of Class A drugs, the force added.

Sohna had previously pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of heroin, cocaine, ecstasy, ketamine, cannabis and diazepam.

Det Con Lauren Carpenter, from Nottinghamshire Police, said: "Experienced neighbourhood officers were shocked by the volume of drugs they found in the initial raid in Newark, as well as by the sophisticated laboratory which had been set up.

"Criminals like Sohna make their profits from the misery of vulnerable addicts, so I am pleased he has been put behind bars for a significant period of time."