County Lines drugs gang jailed

The London-based gang was selling up to £10,000 of drugs per week to users in Exeter

Members of a county lines drugs gang which used teenagers to deliver drugs in Exeter have been jailed.

The London-based gang was selling up to £10,000 of drugs per week to local users before moving the money back.

Devon and Cornwall Police said the gang "preyed on children" - one as young as 13 - to undertake drug-runs and collect cash for them.

Judge Timothy Rose described it as a "despicable trade".

Shuiab Omar Awadh, aged 24, and Bobo Faki, aged 19, were both found guilty on Thursday 25 April of conspiracy to supply cocaine and heroin following a trial at Exeter Crown Court.

Seven other members of the gang all pleaded guilty before trial to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.

SENTENCING:

• Hassan Sufi, aged 20, of Valence Avenue, Essex; 8 years 2 months
• Yakub Sufi, aged 19, of Valence Avenue, Essex; 7 years
• Ahmed Abdullahi, aged 21, of Seymour Road, London; 5 years 9 months
• Bobo Faki, aged 19, of Dukes Court, East Ham, London; Sentencing adjourned
• Faisal Ibrahim, aged 24, of Upper Road, London; 6 years
• Khadija Shariff, aged 20, of Crest Walk, South Woodford, London; 4 years 3months
• Shuiab Omar Awadh, aged 24, of Libertry Bridge Road, Stratford; 3 years 3 months

A further 17 individuals, who were identified as local street dealers in and around the Exeter area, have already been sentenced at previous hearings.

Detective Sergeant Matt Lawrence said: “County Lines is the term used to describe urban gangs supplying drugs to other parts of the UK using dedicated mobile phone lines.

“These convictions are down to the hard work of the Devon and Cornwall Police investigation by the Serious and Organised Crime Investigation Team (SOCIT) who launched Operation Connard which focused on the trafficking of Class A drugs into Exeter from the London area.

“The operation started in July 2017 after an undercover officer managed to purchase drugs over the phone on a county line; this call was taken and an order was placed with a man with a London accent.

“A short time later, we went to the pre-arranged pick-up point and made an arrest where we seized drugs, cash and mobile phones. From here we continued to build an intelligence picture and managed to identify a number of drug lines from London into Exeter.”

Detective Chief Inspector Ben Mant said: “Specialist undercover officers spent more than 10 months gathering in excess of 2,500 pieces of intelligence to help Devon and Cornwall Police secure these convictions and protect children from the gang’s violence.”