Police bring county lines drug dealers to justice

DEVON and Cornwall Police saw a former youth worker and her boyfriend jailed yesterday for using missing children as drug carriers in an elaborate county lines plot in the Westcountry.

Itman Ismail, 28, and Omorie Nixon, 20, travelled from London to Devon on a regular basis, spending thousands of pounds on accommodation in Plymouth and Torbay.

Vulnerable youths were transported, taken to houses, and used to carry heroin and cocaine inside their bodies.

The defendants were convicted of three counts of human trafficking between December, 2019, and March, 2020.

Nixon was also convicted of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs – heroin and crack cocaine – and possessing a mobile device while in HMP Exeter. He was detained for seven years and nine months. Ismail was jailed for four years.

Speaking after the case, Detective Constable Ben Paul, a specialist investigator in modern slavery and human trafficking, described the investigation as “extremely complex”.

It marks Devon and Cornwall Police’s first conviction for a county lines-linked human trafficking case.

“Evidence showed that Nixon and Ismail arranged and facilitated the travel and accommodation of each vulnerable youth victim, and these youths were being exploited by being used to carry and deal Class A drugs,” he said. “This case is even more shocking due to the fact Ismail held such a position of trust and was specifically trained and responsible for protecting and safeguarding young people.”

ADRUG dealer and his care worker girlfriend have been jailed for trafficking teenagers hundreds of miles to sell drugs for a county lines operation in the Westcountry.

Omorie Nixon, 20, and Itman Ismail, 28, pleaded guilty to three counts of human trafficking relating to four boys aged 15 and 16 between December 2019 and March 2020.

The couple used coaches and hire cars to transport the teenagers – three of whom were classed as highrisk missing children at the time – from the London area to Devon with heroin and crack cocaine hidden in their bodies.

They spent almost £3,000 booking Airbnb properties in Devon to carry out the criminal activity.

Exeter Crown Court heard Ismail was a deputy care manager providing supported accommodation for teenagers and young adults, and became Nixon’s key worker in 2018. Their relationship began in 2019.

Judge David Evans jailed Nixon, who also admitted conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and possessing a mobile phone in prison, for seven years and nine months. He sentenced Ismail to four years in prison.

The judge described how the four boys were used in the county lines operation as “storage vessels” for drugs, as well as drug runners when they arrived in Devon and Cornwall.

Ismail’s work could not have left her under “any illusion” about what she was lending herself to and the harm caused by drugs, the judge said.

“This is not a case where either of you could justifiably claim to be the one who was acting under the influence of the other,” the judge told Ismail and Nixon. “This was a mutual thing. This was a true criminal partnership.”

The judge described how Ismail had gone from working to benefit young people to “cold-heartedly” criminally exploiting the vulnerable and marginalised.

Detectives from Devon and Cornwall Police launched an investigation into Ismail and Nixon after they were stopped in a hire car with two teenage passengers in January last year.

One of the teenagers was identified as a vulnerable missing person and taken into police custody.

Days later, police stopped the same car and found Nixon and Ismail with boys aged 15 and 16. They were all arrested and drugs were recovered from inside the two teenagers.

Police said there was no evidence to link Ismail’s job in the care sector with the exploitation of the boys.

Investigations revealed Ismail and Nixon had spent around £3,400 hiring at least seven different cars for journeys between London and the South West.

Ismail clocked up almost 11,000 miles between December 2019 and March 2020, with trips involving prolonged stays at Airbnbs costing around £3,000.

The pair were arrested inside a hire car in south London in March after detectives linked them to county lines drug trafficking. Email evidence showed Ismail - who had even written a presentation on human trafficking - was applying for care home management positions in Devon and Cornwall while trafficking the boys.

Joss Ticehurst, prosecuting, said the county lines operation used young people as they were “biddable and attracted less attention.”