Three men have been jailed for a combined total of 21-years after running a county lines drug operation in Grimsby.
An investigation was launched in January 2020 after three men were identified by a
team of detectives as members of an organised crime group who had been operating a county line drugs network in Grimsby between 4 January to 15 January 2020.
Officers attended a property in the town after reports that the address had been taken over by a drug gang from West Yorkshire. Two people were arrested and Class A drugs were seized.
Three men – Hazrat Shah, 37, Andrew Fox, 39, and Jason Gladding, 34 – were later discovered to be the principal members of an organised crime group who were expanding their drug operation into Grimsby.
All three were arrested and charged in connection with the crimes. The trio were sentenced at Hull Crown Court on 16 April for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.
Detective Inspector Tom Kelly said: “I hope this outcome will serve as a stark warning to others looking to bring harmful drugs into our towns and cities that we won’t tolerate it.
“The investigation saw officers trawling through a vast amount of mobile phone data, along with tactical enforcements in order to put forward a thorough prosecution case.
“Shah, Fox and Gladding have no regard for the lives of those they were using to run their drugs line, as well as drugs users purchasing the substances that they bring into our communities. This is a business to these dangerous people, with making money being the sole objective.
“We have disrupted a major county lines drug dealing gang, jailing three principal members involved in a significant conspiracy, and we will continue to proactively target those we believe to be involved in drugs.
“I would like to thank our colleagues from West Yorkshire Police and partnering agencies for their support throughout the entirety of this investigation.
“I would also like to thank all the people who contact us with information about drug dealing and drug-related crime in their area and I would continue to encourage anyone with any information that may assist in us building the bigger picture, to please get in touch.”
Part of the Gi Grimsby News team since 2020.