County lines drugs gang ‘exploited the vulnerable’
HEROIN AND COCAINE TRIO JAILED
A COUNTY lines racket flooded a town with thousands of pounds worth of cocaine and heroin, a court heard.
Three people from Greater Manchester were locked up for a total of 10 years for the enterprise which ‘systematically exploited vulnerable people’ in Macclesfield.
Chester Crown Court heard the group would run class A drugs from their homes in Manchester to the Cheshire town using hire cars and payas-you-go phones.
Reece Williams, 24, of Crescent Park, Stockport, was jailed for five years after admitting two counts of conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
Tylo Jamieson, 29, of Cringle Road, Manchester, was sentenced to three years and nine months, and Danielle Wilson, of Kenyon Lane, Manchester, was jailed for three years.
Ringleader, Williams, hired his two co-defendants to work as drug-runners, the court heard.
Jamieson and Wilson would, in-turn, send text messages informing drug users in Macclesfield that they had drugs for sale and deliver them.
The investigation into the trio began after cars hired by Jamieson were spotted in Macclesfield in December 2017.
They were pulled over and searched when they next returned to the area in January 2018. Wilson was found to be in possession of wraps of heroin and cocaine with a street value of £850.
After the pair were arrested, Williams continued to sell heroin and cocaine on a ‘large scale’ using pay-as-you-go phones. Following a raid on his home, officers found wraps of heroin and cocaine with a street value of around £830, the court heard.
Examination of mobile phones seized from Williams’ home found a large number of text messages to drug users.
Detective sergeant Jon Ryder said: “They have a clear disregard for the law and I am delighted that they are now behind bars and no longer able to blight the area with illegal drugs.
“Williams ran the county lines team and employed Jamieson and Wilson to distribute drugs on his behalf.
“They used hire cars and pay-as-yougo phones as part of a criminal enterprise which systematically exploited vulnerable people.”