Five jailed for 36 years for running County Lines network
Five men from East London have been jailed for a total of 36 years for selling drugs through County Lines networks.
The men, who were all linked to a street gang in Hackney, sold the drugs in Peterborough and Huntingdon through phone lines nicknamed ‘Ricki’ and ‘TJ’.
The arrests followed a nine-month long investigation by the Metropolitan Police Service’s Central Gangs Unit, part of the Trident and Area Crime Command.
Using phone analysis and police surveillance, officers were able to link the five men to the drugs network and demonstrate contact between the defendants’ phones, the two ‘deal lines’ and local drug users in Cambridgeshire.
During the investigation, drugs with a street value in excess of £17,000 were seized, along with designer clothing, jewellery, cash in excess of £25,000 and a watch valued at over £20,000, which had previously been reported as stolen.
Detective Superintendent Gary Clarke of Trident’s Central Gangs Unit said: “This was a complex investigation into a lucrative ‘County Line’ drugs network, operating between Hackney and Cambridgeshire. Drug dealers prey on local users and use violence and intimidation, bringing with them misery and violent crime to local communities. These sentences demonstrate just how seriously the criminal justice system is taking the issue of county lines drugs rings.”
The first arrest was made in November 2017, when one of the five men, 24-year-old Jodeci Ofulue, approached an abandoned vehicle in Peterborough. When police attempted to stop him he ran away, dropping his keys and the mobile phone controlling the ‘Ricki’ line. Police found nearly £14,000 worth of heroin and crack cocaine, scales and used latex gloves in the car.
The other men were arrested at their home addresses on March 1 this year.
At Wood Green Crown Court heard on Friday (September 21), Rashayne Hunter, 20, was sentenced to ten years and six months’ imprisonment, Samuel Awoyera, 20, to seven years and six months, Sherif Isiaka, 19, to seven years and five months, and Ofulue six years and nine months.
A 17-year-old youth who was previously found guilty of two counts of conspiring to supply a Class A drug (heroin and crack cocaine) and one count of possession of criminal property, was sentenced to four years and four months’ imprisonment.