Drug gang busted by phone calls to mother
A DRUG gang selling crack and heroin in Cardiff was busted – because the ringleader kept ringing his mum on phones used by the dealers.
Jahwan Blake, 37, had spent two years as part of an organised crime group peddling drugs in Roath and Cathays before he was caught.
The County Lines dealer was part of a group known as the Dredd Line, which used four different phone numbers to carry out their transactions with other dealers and users in the city.
As detectives tracked the calls made by the numbers they spotted one which was contacted by all of the Dredd Line’s phones.
That turned out to be a number for Blake’s mother, in London, and officers were able to use CCTV to track him travelling with the phone back to London.
He – along with seven accomplices – is now behind bars after he was arrested on March 6 this year.
He had been selling drugs in the Welsh capital since January 2017.
A police investigation into the Dredd Line’s activities saw more than £7,000-worth of crack cocaine and heroin recovered along with £1,600 in cash.
Blake, of Topaz Street, Adamsdown , was convicted at Cardiff Crown Court on Thursday of supplying heroin and crack cocaine and was jailed for sixand-a-half years.
Seven street dealers he used were sentenced to a combined 17 years behind bars, according to a South Wales Police spokesman.
Detective constable Ruth Copeland, the officer in the case, said: “Drug dealers prey on the vulnerability of drug users purely for quick financial gain.
“They have a complete disregard for the consequences of their criminality and we will not stand by while our communities continue to suffer.
“We continue with a robust approach to remove them from our streets.
“As always we would urge our communities to support us as we continue relentlessly to achieve this aim.
“We can, and regularly do, act upon the information provided to us by the public so please keep it coming.”
Police said earlier this week that 100 suspected dealers have been arrested since a new dedicated team was formed to tackle drug supply in Cardiff five months ago.
Out of the 100 arrested as part of Operation Crater 16 have been charged and brought before the courts and the resulting prison sentences amount to more than 51 years.
More than 80 other people are currently awaiting court proceedings.
Anyone with suspicions or information about illegal drug supply can contact the police on 101 or, alternatively, Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously on 0800 555 111.