By Paris Maben-Hume
This week, Ipswich Crown Court handed down prison sentences to two men involved in serious criminal activities. Zoumana Coulibaly, a 24-year-old from London, was sentenced for his role in running a drug line that sold heroin and crack cocaine. Veleriu Negara, a 27-year-old from Ipswich, was jailed for illegally entering the UK after being deported previously.
Coulibaly was convicted for his involvement in the “Rex line,” which made over £44,000 in sales between June 18 and July 26. Police arrested him in Colchester, where they discovered £1,500 in cash, heroin, cocaine, and two burner phones. Tragically, just days earlier, authorities had found a deceased man with a syringe and tourniquet around his arm, who was believed to have purchased drugs from the Rex line. It was also suspected that the drugs sold by Coulibaly were contaminated with protonitazene, a potent and lethal cutting agent.
Coulibaly pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including supplying heroin and crack cocaine, possessing drugs with intent to supply, and possessing criminal property. He was sentenced to six years and six months in prison, a reduction from the original seven years due to his guilty pleas.
In a separate case, Veleriu Negara was sentenced to 14 months after admitting to illegally entering the UK in breach of a deportation order. Negara, who had been deported in 2021 after a conviction for wounding, had tried to return to the country twice in 2023. He successfully entered the UK earlier this year under his wife’s name but was later caught when his identity was revealed through a roadside fingerprint check. Judge Emma Peters remarked that Negara had repeatedly disregarded the law by trying to return to the UK after being explicitly told he was not welcome.
Both men will now serve time for their crimes as part of ongoing efforts to uphold public safety and border security.