A MAN involved in a drug dealing operation in Bournemouth was busted by police after they found a bag containing hundreds of wraps of class A drugs in a hotel room booked in his name.

Officers found £5,710 worth of heroin and cocaine during a search at the hotel in Boscombe.

It was discovered rooms across Bournemouth were being booked in the name of Rubinthan Rasiah-Eswaranathan last summer.

The 23-year-old was arrested by officers carrying out enquiries at the Carrington Hotel on July 11, 2022.

Rasiah-Eswaranathan pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of class A drugs with intent to supply and one count of possession of criminal property.

Judge Susan Evans KC jailed the defendant for three years at a Bournemouth Crown Court hearing on Friday, February 3.

“This was a county lines operation that was taking place in Bournemouth, being fed from the London area,” the judge said.

She said such operations cause “huge damage to society” and “misery” to addicts, their children and families.

Police were led to the Carrington Hotel after making enquiries at the Heathlands Hotel following the arrest of a 16-year-old on suspicion of drug offences. He was in possession of a pass card for the latter accommodation and this room had been booked in Rasiah-Eswaranathan’s name.

When officers went to the Carrington Hotel and made their way to the room which Rasiah-Eswaranathan had checked into they passed him on the stairs.

The room was empty but the defendant was subsequently detained outside and a search took place.

Prosecuting, Stuart Ellacott said a black bag found under the bed contained 379 wraps of cocaine and 192 wraps of heroin, as well as £900 in cash.

Mr Ellacott said: “Officers also seized a Samsung mobile phone, which was found to have a number ending 250 that has been identified as the Ghost network – a county lines mobile phone number which had been operating between July 1 and July 10.”

The court heard the defendant made no comment in police interview.

Mr Ellacott said the offending involved street level dealing, with Rasiah-Eswaranathan having “some awareness of the scale of the operation”.

Mitigating, Matthew Pardoe said the defendant was a young man who was particularly vulnerable.

Mr Pardoe said Rasiah-Eswaranathan and his family were ashamed of what he had done.

Rasiah-Eswaranathan, of Princes Park Lane, Hayes, had no previous convictions and he pleaded guilty shortly before a trial was scheduled to take place.

The court heard the defendant had lost his job and descended into depression before he started associating with a negative group and taking cannabis.

He run up a debt and said he was threatened if he refused to start dealing drugs.

The judge said she accepted the defendant was working under a degree of direction from those above him but he was trusted with cash, the drug line phone and a significant amount of drugs.

While Rasiah-Eswaranathan “must have been aware of the scale of the operation”, the judge said he was not an equity partner in what was taking place.