A PAIR of drug dealers were caught red-handed as they drove around the streets of Basildon intent on flooding the streets with crack cocaine and heroin.

Dionne Kalebaila and Danny Leach were in a blue Renault Clio which was spotted by police patrolling Long Riding in June last year.

The officers had become suspicious of the car after it pulled up in an area known to be frequented by drug users and dealers.

At that point, they stopped the car and searched Leach and his passenger, 38-year-old Dionne Kalebaila, who was a convicted drug dealer.

Officers searched the car and found mobile phones belonging to both Leach and Kalebaila, which linked them to the supply of the Class A drugs crack cocaine and heroin.

The pair were arrested and Leach, of Brundish, Basildon, was charged with being concerned in the supply of a Class A drug.

Kalebaila, of no fixed address was charged with two counts of being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs.

The pair both pleaded guilty to the charges at Basildon Crown Court.

It is Kalebaila's fourth conviction for supplying Class A drugs in the last ten years.

The 38-year-old was jailed for three years and six months.

Leach, 37, was handed a two-year jail term suspended for two years.

He was also ordered to complete a drug rehabilitation programme and was made the subject of a three-month curfew banning him from going out between 4am and 7pm.

Investigating officer, PC Dan Onley, said: “It was clear that both Leach and Kalebaila were involved in the supply of Class A drugs “Kalebaila is a career criminal who has repeatedly been convicted of supplying Class A drugs and her offending has impacted on the lives of the community.

“However Operation Raptor are not prepared to allow individuals like her to blight the lives of others or sell drugs on the streets of our county.

“We will persistently target those individuals who think they can come to our county and sell drugs or commit crime, they can’t and we will be waiting for them."

He added: “If you have information about drug or gang-related crime in your community contact Essex Police on 101.”