‘County lines’ gang preyed on vulnerable youngsters
Ex-footballer jailed for using teens to deal drugs
AFORMER footballer who ran a “county lines” drug operation from Birmingham using teenagers has been jailed for a decade.
Shylo Thomas – described as “aggressive and intimidating” – recruited vulnerable children as young as 15 as street dealers to travel from Birmingham to Burton and Rugeley in Staffordshire, where they were made to deal class A drugs for cash.
The dealers were cut off from their families and made to stay in the homes of local drug users or squat elsewhere – a process known as “cuckooing”.
Thomas, together with five other men and a teenager all from Birmingham, pleaded guilty to their roles in the conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine.
Stafford Crown Court heard that a total of 1.5kg of class-A drugs was moved from August 2017 to February 2018.
Thomas, who played for Walsall FC as a youngster, ran the network of street dealers in Burton and Rugeley, detailing their income, rent payments and shift patterns in a handwritten ledger.
Thomas, 28, and Malachi Mitchell, 26, used two mobile phones which sent out up to 80 texts per day to run their operation, referring to themselves as “Turbo”.
Drug-users would place an order with one of the lines and Thomas and Mitchell would then direct their street dealers remotely to meet the user and carry out the transaction.
The dealers were transported from Birmingham to Burton and Rugeley where it was their responsibility to meet users and supply them with heroin or cocaine for money.
These dealers were given accommodation in Burton and Rugeley by Thomas at home addresses of local drug users or by occupying premises as squatters. Detectives gathered evidence from CCTV, mobile phones, forensic examinations and automatic number plate recognition (ANPR).
Thomas was arrested on February 20, 2018, and detectives found one of the “Turbo” phones and a further phone belonging to a 15-year-old girl that he was exploiting as a street dealer in Burton.
Mitchell was arrested at his home address in April 2018 in possession of heroin and crack cocaine.
Judge Jonathan Salmon said: “This was a difficult case and considerable time and expertise was demonstrated by officers who investigated. It is a tragedy to see such exploitation of the young.”
Thomas, of Hutton Road, Handsworth, was jailed for ten years and seven months. Mitchell, of Leasow Drive, Edgbaston, was jailed for three years and seven months.
Detective Sergeant Jim Byrne, from Staffordshire Police, said: “We’re glad this conspiracy, which was highly organised, has been brought to an end and this group are now serving their sentences.
“We will not tolerate drug-dealing in Staffordshire and, following on from a number of successful convictions across the county, we will continue to bring offenders before the courts.”