A 17-year-old drugs supplier told officers he was answerable to no-one when he was taken into custody.

Muhammed Abdullah was supplying class A narcotics on Newport’s streets when he was apprehended.

The court heard he turned to criminal activity to provide for his household and to fund his £100 daily cannabis dependency, as well as because a college dropout wanted to prove himself.

He was initially intercepted on Friday 12 September last year following police observation of him selling to a user on Commercial Street in Pill.

The youth was operating while cycling and was detained shortly afterwards.

Officers discovered two packages of cocaine with a value of £30 on his person.

After being granted bail, he resumed his activities soon after, this time in the town centre.

When officers pursued him, the accused discarded a container holding 37 portions of heroin.

The substances had an estimated street value ranging from £740 to £1,100.

As officers closed in, Abdullah maintained his innocence and displayed his mobile phone to them.

During this time, communications regarding narcotics continued arriving on the device.

Investigators uncovered text promotions for drugs along with footage depicting heroin being measured prepared for distribution.

Abdullah, now 18, from Alexandra Road, Newport admitted two charges of involvement in class A drug supply between September 19, 2025 and November 2025.

His counsel Kirsten Murphy stated her client had maintained a clean record previously with no prior convictions.

She noted he had been evaluated as presenting minimal likelihood of reoffending.

Presiding judge Recorder Aidan Eardley KC observed that following his initial arrest, he informed police he answered to nobody and operated independently.

The judge noted he was now 18 but was 17 throughout most of the time he was committing these offences.

The judge continued that he had left education and after witnessing others profiting from criminal enterprise, one individual recruited him.

He claimed he wished to be the household provider.

He held a substantial role and possessed at least an awareness of the operation’s magnitude.

His case was worsened by the fact he was distributing two varieties of drugs and persisted in criminal conduct while on magistrates’ court bail.

He disclosed to the probation officer that he was spending £100 daily on cannabis.

He was clearly pursuing a criminal path with considerable resolve.

Abdullah received an 18-month detention in a young offender establishment.