Man jailed for dealing cocaine in Aylesbury to be deported after serving sentence

Following a Thames Valley Police investigation, a man has been sentenced to four years and three months’ imprisonment for drug offences in Aylesbury.
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Carlos Baquero, aged 33 of Straight Road, Windsor, pleaded guilty to one count of being concerned in supplying cocaine, one count of possession of cocaine, one count of possession of cannabis and one count of obstructing a police officer in exercising a lawful search, at a hearing at Aylesbury Crown Court on Friday 6 December. After serving his sentence, Baquero will be deported.

On 24 June 2019, officers stopped a car in Avalon Street, Aylesbury and found Baquero in the passenger seat. The driver was later found to be a man who had been exploited and manipulated or ‘cuckooed’ by Baquero to drive him to Birmingham to collect drugs.

As officers approached Baquero, they suspected that he was secreting drugs about his person. On arrival at custody, he was placed on watch and a quantity of drugs were recovered.

Carlos BaqueroCarlos Baquero
Carlos Baquero

On 17 July, Baquero was found to have concealed crack cocaine with a street value of around £900.

On analysing Baquero’s mobile phone, officers found that it contained a vast quantity of text messages indicating that he was supplying drugs to people in the local area. There were also messages which indicated Baquero had been exploiting local people in Aylesbury to 'cuckoo' addresses, and then use those as a base. This included the home of the driver of the vehicle he was arrested in. Text messages also indicated that Baquero had a drug supply network extending to other towns, and that he was exploiting school children to supply drugs on his behalf.

Investigating officer, PC John Johnston of Aylesbury police station, said:

“Baquero was clearly looking to profit from selling drugs and was exploiting vulnerable members of our communities for his own financial gain.

“Following Baquero’s arrest in July, we have safeguarded a number of vulnerable individuals in our community in co-operation with partner agencies.

“Drugs have a hugely detrimental impact on our communities and we will continue to tackle those who seek to deal drugs.

“We will continue to work through our Stronghold campaign which aims to work to tackle serious and organised crime and exploitation in partnership.

“We would ask members of the public to report issues of drug dealing as your reports can help us to investigate crimes and bring offenders to justice.

“Through our Stronghold campaign Thames Valley Police will continue to work in partnership to tackle serious organised crime and to stop those who seek to exploit vulnerable people for their own means.

“Our new True Costs campaign aims to highlight the real impact of drug offences on the most vulnerable in our communities.

“Children as young as seven in the UK have been groomed in to the world of drugs and we are exploring what the real harm is in taking a little cocaine.”

You can find out more on our website: https://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/police-forces/thames-valley-police/areas/c/true-costs/

Get involved in the conversation using #TrueCosts.