POLICE arrested two drug dealers after opening their car door and being hit by a “strong smell of cannabis wafting from the interior”.

Officers searched the car and discovered several large bags of herbal cannabis hidden in the boot.

Further searches of the car, suspects and a flat to which they had access in Holmesdale Gardens, Hastings, saw police find various quantities of cocaine, including some in measured wraps, as well as more than £12,000 in cash.

Patrolling officers PC David Mendes and PC Lee Sumner stopped the suspicious car near the pair’s flat in the early hours of November 22.

An investigation led by Detective Constable Mitchell Humby followed and a case against the duo was brought before the courts.

On May 3 Italians Lucciano Cassini, 29, unemployed, of Cambridge Road, Hastings, and Federico del Gaudio, 30, unemployed, of Devonshire Road, Bexhill-on-Sea, were each sentenced at Lewes Crown Court to two years and 10 months in prison.

They had previously pleaded guilty to possessing class A cocaine and class B cannabis with intent to supply. Judge David Rennie made an order for the drugs to be destroyed.

The cash found hidden in their flat was also confiscated.