Eight jailed after police smash three Telford drug rings

Officers went incognito for a period of nearly two years to buy heroin and crack cocaine from unsuspecting dealers.

The sting, codenamed Operation Sift, concluded with police conducting a number of dawn raids in May last year to arrest suspects and search their homes.

Eight of them were jailed at Birmingham Crown Court.

Miss Sharon Bahia, prosecuting, said Operation Sift was launched to deal with a "significant problem with drug dealing in the Telford area".

A proceeds of crime hearing will take place later in the year to determine how much profit the eight made from their activities.

Police today welcomed the sentences. Detectives said they hoped it would act as a deterrent to others and send out a strong message that the use of drugs would "not be tolerated" in the town.

Operation Sift, was launched in October 2012 to deal with what officers perceived to be a "significant" problem with drug dealing in the town.

It was concluded 18 months later, following tireless undercover work and surveillance in which officers bought drugs directly from the main players, with a number of dawn raids on the properties of the protagonists.

Eight of them were jailed for a total of nearly 40 years at the court on Friday.

Speaking after the hearing, Detective Inspector Gavin Kinrade, the investigating officer for West Mercia Police, said: "I am very pleased with the sentencing result.

"I hope that it indicates Warwickshire Police and West Mercia Police's priority of protecting people from harm and bringing offenders to justice.

"The possession, distribution and use of drugs will not be tolerated and I believe the sentencing strongly shows that those caught will be prosecuted and made to face the consequences."

Harjinder Singh Dhillon, 40, of Marlborough Road in Leegomery, Telford, was jailed for seven years.

He was said to be the leader of a "well-organised professional operation" supplying Class A drugs which was run in a "skilful" manner.

The court heard Dhillon bragged to undercover officers of expanding his operations to Glasgow and Judge Simon Drew QC said he had "no doubt" that he had benefited "substantially" financially.

Miss Sharon Bahia, prosecuting, told the court: "He ran the operation like a business, he was operating core hours. He told officers he would only conduct business between 9am and 6pm.

"He often spoke of how quickly he could dispatch drugs at short notice."

The court heard following the raid on Dhillon's home, police found £290 in cash and five bags of heroin said to have a street value of between £7,500 and £8,500.

Dhillon was assisted by Sandip Kumar, 28, of The Nettleford in Hadley, Telford, who was jailed for five years, and Ricky Walsh, 27, of Chad Valley, High Street, Wellington, Telford, who was sent to prison for three-and-a-half years.

The court heard examination of mobile phone records found 29 separate communications between the three men – with 18 relating to drugs being dealt.

Miss Bahia said the men would arrange to meet customers outside the Jobcentre in the town or on car parks nearby, and would often arrive with the drugs in their mouth.

On occasions they had to swallow them to avoid detection by uniformed police and had to go and get more drugs and come back later to complete the deal, Miss Bahia told the court.

Four members of a separate group in the town were also jailed after being snared by undercover police.

This operation, Judge Drew said, was far less professional, without a clear leader and was run to feed the drug addictions of its members.

Christopher Reece, 28, of Wedgwood Crescent in Ketley, Telford, was jailed for four-and-a-half years.

He is currently serving a four-year prison term for burglary and yesterday's sentence will be added onto it, the judge ruled.

His girlfriend Melissa Harvey-Trustam, 24, also of Wedgwood Crescent, was jailed for four years.

The court heard she had a lesser role in the operation but was caught attempting to smuggle drugs into Reece while he was in prison in September last year.

Daniel Burns, 35, of Church Street in Hadley, was jailed for three years and nine months.

He is currently serving a three-and-a-half year prison term for conspiracy to burgle and, as with Reece, yesterday's sentence will be added onto it, the judge ruled.

Fiona Lockwood, 31, of Pool Meadow, Hadley, was jailed for three-and-a-half years.

The court heard undercover officers bought drugs from the gang on 12 different occasions – with Burns involved six times, Reece three times, Lockwood twice and Harvey-Trustam once.

The final defendant, Christopher Moss, 49, of Queen Elizabeth Way in Malinslee, Telford, was jailed for seven-and-a-half years for running his own drugs operation in the town.

The court heard it was the fourth time he had been caught supplying drugs.

He was jailed for five years in 1996, 54 months in 2004 and eight years in 2008, Miss Bahia told the court.

"The way you are going you are going to end up dead, like so many others you have no doubt come across," Judge Drew warned him.

"You have been here too many times."