Eight men have been sentenced after officers targeted a drug dealing networking operating in Weston, North Somerset and Yeovil.
The group, who have been sentenced at Bristol Crown Court, received a total of 36 years and nine months in prison.
The convictions followed an operation targeting drug dealing in Weston-super-Mare.
It comes after officers attended a property in Jubilee Road, Weston in March 2021 where they met four of the defendants in the case.
Officers discovered Class A drugs, drug paraphernalia and cash, along with a black burner phone found to be part of an active drugs supply line.
A full investigation was launched into the activities of the group where officers uncovered a Class A drug supply network across parts of Somerset.
During a series of planned warrants, officers found quantities of heroin, crack cocaine, cash, knives and mobile phones.
Across the whole investigation, they had seized almost £5,000 in cash, heroin and crack cocaine with an estimated street value totalling around £7,000 and other drug paraphernalia.
Seven of the men pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of heroin and crack cocaine.
The men, who are all from Weston-super-Mare, were sentenced to:
- Jordan Moseley, 33 of Shrubbery Walk West, received a prison sentence of seven and a half years.
- Kyle Cox, 25 of Appledore, was jailed for four years.
- Aaron Staples, 26 of Birchwood Avenue, was also sentenced for being in possession with intent to supply cocaine and possessing a mobile phone in prison. He was jailed for seven years and two months.
- Liam Simms, 21 of no fixed address, received a six year and four-month prison sentence.
- Connor Kennedy, 20 of no fixed address, was imprisoned for three and a half years in a young offenders’ institute.
- Brandon Truman, 20 of Wilson Gardens, was imprisoned for two years and 11 months in a young offenders’ institute.
- Matthew Coombes, 21 of Appledore, was jailed for three years and 10 months in prison.
An eighth person, Mohammed Shazad Salim, 27 of Ashcombe Road, pleaded guilty to participating in the activities of an organised crime group.
He received an 18-month prison sentence which was suspended for two years. He was ordered to complete 160 hours’ unpaid work over the next year.
Officer in the case, PC Howard Brown, said: “County Lines crime continues to be a problem which often involves the exploitation of vulnerable individuals in the supply of illegal drugs which causes harm to our communities.”
“However, our dedicated County Lines team, working closely with colleagues in local neighbourhoods and other specialist teams, are alive to these activities and are working 24/7 to combat them.”
“This sentence sends a clear message that individuals involved in the supply and transportation of harmful drugs into our towns and villages will be brought to justice and dealt with robustly.”
“Avon and Somerset is no place for drugs. Our message to them is that we will find you, we will follow you and we won’t stop until we’ve got you.”
“These latest convictions are the result of hard work and dedication by our dedicated county lines team working in conjunction with the High Harm Drug Market Intelligence Team.”
“We will continue to work hard to reduce the impact of drugs on our communities and ask the public to play their part, by sharing what they know with us about drugs activity in their neighbourhood and looking out for and reporting the signs.”
