Two men jailed after £150k of drugs found during police stop in Salford

Two Salford men have been jailed after officers from GMP's dedicated operation to tackling organised crime in the city uncovered £150,000's worth of drugs when stopping a car on patrol in February.

Tony Partington (28/07/1990), of Southgarth Road, and Spencer Candland (19/04/1985), of Langworthy Road, were both sentenced yesterday (Tuesday 20 April) to serve two years and four months each after pleading guilty to possession with intent to supply cannabis.

Manchester Crown Court heard how on the afternoon of Sunday 7 February 2021, police spotted a suspicious white Ford Focus on Langworthy Road which came to a stop on Southgard Road outside Partington's address.

Spencer Candland got out of the car and was searched by police who then found two large bags containing several vacuum-sealed bags of cannabis - equating to around 13 kilos, a street value of around £130,000.

Candland was arrested by officers before Tony Partington's address was searched when he too was found to be in possession of a further quantity of 2 kilos of cannabis.

Both men were interviewed and later charged by police with possession with intent to supply class B drugs, before pleading guilty.

Partington was given two years and four months and Candland was ordered to serve 12 months as well as the remaining 16 months of a suspended sentence.

The convictions are the latest under Operation Naseby's disruption hub which was formed in April 2020 after a rise in violent incidents between two crime groups in Salford.

Action from the dedicated team has seen scores of drugs, weapons, and vehicles seized, as well as the safeguarding of vulnerable people alongside local authority.

Detective Sergeant Daniel Worthington, of GMP Salford's district, said: "Yesterday was the latest in a series of really positive convictions after the hard work of the Op Naseby team in the last 12 months.

"Partington and Candland are unscrupulous individuals who were possessing cannabis with the intent to supply and make ill-gotten gains.

"Drugs themselves have a negative impact on society, but the drugs trade is a huge part of the ways in which organised crime groups operate and it is an absolute priority of ours to act on any information we have that can target such people involved in this criminal enterprise."