AN ORGANISED crime gang has been jailed for a total of more than nine years following a British Transport Police (BTP) County Lines Taskforce investigation.
Drug dealer Andrew Wallance, 22, of Bridget Street in Rugby, pleaded guilty to assault of an emergency worker, offering to supply crack cocaine, offering to supply heroin, and possession with intent to supply crack cocaine and heroin.
He was sentenced at Warwick Crown Court to three years and five months in jail.
His accomplices, Isaiah Taitt and Dequarme Lennox, were both jailed in November last year at Warwick Crown Court for their involvement in running the drugs line.
Taitt, 24, of West London, pleaded guilty to offering to supply crack cocaine and heroin, and was jailed for two years and nine months.
Lennox, 22, of Telford, was jailed for three years after pleading guilty to offering to supply crack cocaine and heroin.
The court heard how on January 20 last year, intelligence led BTP’s County Lines Taskforce to an address in Northamptonshire which was being used as a trap house.
After forcing entry to the property, officers located Wallance who had internally secreted a package suspected to contain Class A drugs.
He was arrested, and while in custody became aggressive when officers advised him he would need to go to hospital, kicking one of them and knocking him off balance.
Subsequently he had to be carried into a police van to hospital where the package was later recovered and confirmed to be crack cocaine and heroin.
Wallance was bailed while the Taskforce launched an investigation into the operation of the drugs line, which upon analysis revealed another two people were involved.
Multiple drug trafficking messages between the three men were recovered from Wallance’s phone, proving they were working together to supply Class A drugs.
Officers from the Taskforce executed warrants at addresses in Rugby, London, and Telford in the early hours of March 12.
Wallance, Taitt and Lennox were arrested and the drugs line phone, a large knife disguised as a bike pump, drugs, and £9,000 in cash were seized in the raids.
After nearly 24 hours in custody, all three were charged with a total of 10 offences.
BTP Det Insp Matt Davies said: “This is a hugely significant result in our crackdown on County Lines.
“Three men who operated a once thriving drugs line are now behind bars and the illegal drugs they peddled have been taken off the streets along with a potentially lethal weapon.
“This could not have been achieved without the efforts of colleagues at the Metropolitan Police as well as Warwickshire, West Mercia and Northamptonshire Police.
“Working together means we combine our individual resources to hunt down those who profit from the sale of drugs and exploit others.
“Make no mistake, if you’re using the network to deal drugs we’ll be catching up with you very soon.”
