A MAN from Basingstoke has been jailed for five years after a police operation targeting the supply of drugs.

The sentence follows a warrant executed by officers from Basingstoke’s Safer Neighbourhoods Team as part of Fortress, Hampshire Constabulary’s response to drug-related harm.

Officers visited a house in Old Worting Road, the address at the time of 49-year-old Stuart Harris, on January 30 last year.

Inside, they found a quantity of cocaine, with an estimated street value of around £44,000, and harvested cannabis and cannabis plants, with an estimated street value of around £200,000.

Harris, appeared at Winchester Crown Court on Friday, March 9, having pleaded guilty to possession of Class A drugs with intent to supply and production of a Class B drug.

He was jailed for a total of five years.

Proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act are now under way.

Detective Constable Clare Hughes said: “Class A drugs can blight the lives of users, their families and local communities.

“Through Fortress, we work with our partners to reduce drug-related harm by restricting supply with enforcement, and providing support and offering diversionary activities to people on the periphery of the drugs trade.

“This conviction and sentence shows that we are committed to tackling those who peddle these substances for their own financial gain.”