38-year-old John Teague was jailed for three years and three months at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.[1] Teague, of Jesmond Grove, Blurton, pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of class A, class B and class C drugs and to possession of a class B drug with intent to supply.[1] He was arrested after packaging DNA matched him and his phone contained messages linking him to drug supply.[1]
Between April and December 2022 he ran a postal drug operation called Mr Bates Treats and Mr Bates Treats 2.0 as a commercial operation for financial gain.[1] On November 17, 2022 police attended a post office in Leek Road, Stoke, after staff intercepted four Jiffy bags containing cannabis.[1] Those bags held 47.9 grams of cannabis resin, 41.4 grams of edible THC cannabis, 18.5 grams and 22.3 grams of THC cannabis, 13.6 grams and 26.5 grams of cannabis, and 24.4 grams of cannabis resin, valued at between £580 and £890.[1] In December 2022 police were called to the Parcelforce depot in Dalewood Road, Newcastle, where four cannabis-smelling packages held 3.5 grams of cannabis, 15 Alprazolam tablets and blocks of cannabis resin.[1] On December 30, 2022 police searched his home and seized a phone, £1,100 cash, postal receipts, powders, scales and other items, alongside cocaine, LSD and Alprazolam involved in the wider case.[1]
The case began when postal staff could smell cannabis and informed police.[1] The judge said postal workers became suspicious because of the strong cannabis smell and described an organised small drug-supply business run over many months for profit.[1] In mitigation his lawyer said Teague served in the Army from 2006 to 2010 with two Afghanistan tours and cited his mother’s death, a dog’s death and a relationship breakdown in 2022.[1]
