Drugs gang jailed after supplying cocaine from Staffordshire to Welsh border

Nine drugs gang members from Wolverhampton, Cannock and Walsall have been locked up - and more are set to be sentenced today.

Brothers Mohammed Saeed, left, and Shabaz Saeed, right, were among nine people jailed on Tuesday

The ringleaders of a drugs gang which supplied cocaine from Staffordshire to the Welsh border have been jailed.

More than £40,000 in cash, £200,000 worth of drugs and 132 mobile phones were seized by police during the operation, which saw officers raid homes, stop cars, and witness dealing in Cannock.

Eight men and a woman were jailed for their part in the large-scale conspiracy to supply cocaine at Stafford Crown Court on Tuesday, while two other men were given community work for possession of Class A drugs at an earlier hearing and four others were due to be sentenced for conspiracy to supply cocaine on Wednesday.

The group was led by the three Saeed brothers from Wolverhampton – Abdul, Mohammed and Shabaz – who were jailed for six years and two months, six years and four months and nine years and three months respectively.

GALLERY: Mugshots of the nine criminals jailed

Scroll through to see the sentences given to each member of the gang

Emily Adams, 26, of Masefield Grove, Cannock, was jailed for three years and four months

Sonny Barham, 30, of Weston Drive, Walsall, was jailed for 30 months

Stephen Coldrick, 62, of Evans Street, Wolverhampton, was jailed for seven years

Craig Hartshorne, 31, of Stafford Road, Cannock, was jailed for 22 months after already serving four years behind bars

Martin Lloyd, 27, of Central Avenue, Cannock, has already served three years and was jailed for 22 months

Sandy McInnes, 33, of Masefield Grove, Cannock, was jailed for seven years and two months

Mohammed Saeed, 44, of Summerfield Road, Wolverhampton was jailed for six years and four months

Abdul Saeed, 39, of Dunstall Road, was jailed for six years and two months

Shabaz Saeed, 47, of Dunstall Road, Wolverhampton was jailed for nine years and three months

The court heard that warrants were initially executed in July 2013 at the address of Sandy McInnes, 33, and Emily Adams, 26, in Masefield Grove, Cannock. Cocaine was recovered and arrests were made.

Then on December 5, 2013, officers watched an exchange take place in Orbital Way, Cannock, between 62-year-old Stephen Coldrick, and Sonny Barham, 30.

Coldrick was arrested on the Wolverhampton Road shortly afterwards with £6,000 of cocaine in the car he was driving, which was licensed to 47-year-old Shabaz Saeed, of Dunstall Road.

Evidence also placed Coldrick in the King Street/Duke Street area of Fenton where police later seized a kilo of pure cocaine on March 5 2014, following the arrests of 44-year-old Mohammed Saeed, of Summerfield Road, and Shabaz Saeed.

Further work led officers to Welshpool in Powys where Abdul Saeed, 39, of Dunstall Road, was arrested for conspiracy to supply drugs.

A tick list was recovered at the address with many of the group members’ names on it.

Conspiracy to supply

Coldrick, of Evans Street, Wolverhampton, was handed seven years in prison for conspiracy to supply drugs, McInnes was given seven years and two months for the same charge and Adams was handed three years and four months.

Barham, of Weston Drive, Walsall, was handed 30 months in prison for conspiracy to supply drugs, and both Martin Lloyd, 27, of Central Avenue, Cannock, and Craig Hartshorne, 31, of Stafford Road, Cannock, were handed 22 months for the same charge, as Lloyd has already served three years and Hartshorne has served four years for the same offence.

Shane Girvan, 32, of Rigby Drive, Cannock, and Robert Jones, 26, of Buttermere Close, Cannock, were sentenced to 40 hours community service for possession of cocaine at an earlier hearing after being caught in a vehicle with other defendants, cash and cocaine.

All had pleaded guilty at earlier hearings, except Shabaz Saeed and Stephen Coldrick who were found guilty following trials.

The criminal activity took place between January 1, 2013 and January 1, 2015.

Detective Chief Inspector Paul Bentley, of Staffordshire Police, said: “This was an exceptionally challenging and complex case to build.

"The volume of material was exceptional and I’d like to commend my officers for their attention to detail and tenacity in bringing this case before the courts.

“Despite the complexity and challenges such cases bring we hope these sentences deliver a clear message: We will bring those who deal drugs and spread misery in our communities to justice.”