Man jailed for helping supply drugs to Devon

Gang member sentenced for five-and-a-half years

A tenth member of an organised crime gang who helped traffic tens of thousands of pounds worth of cocaine into the South West has been jailed.  

Matthew Summers, who's 41, of Carnarvon Road, Reading was jailed for five-and-a-half years by Exeter Crown Court on Friday 3 October.

He pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to conspiring to supply a Class A controlled drug, namely cocaine, between July and November 2019.

The sentencing follows the jailing of nine other members of the same County Lines gang following previous trials between October 2021 and December 2024 for their roles in supplying cocaine to towns in Devon, Cornwall and Somerset.

In total, the gang was jailed for more than 71 years, including 44-yaer-old Mark Vasija, from Essex, who was sentenced to 11 years.

Exeter Crown Court heard that Mr Summers had sent text messages to Mr Vasija’s phone to arrange a delivery of cocaine to a customer in Wiltshire, towards the end of November 2019 - with the intention of making it a regular thing.

The jailing of the gang members follows a large-scale complex investigation by Devon and Cornwall Police’s Serious and Organised Crime Branch, aided by the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit.  

The investigation uncovered a network of sophisticated and organised criminals who had established a strong foothold in the South West.

Officers seized large quantities of Class A drugs destined for the streets of Plymouth, Bristol, Torquay and Penzance along with a large amount of criminal cash.