Six men have been jailed in a major county lines drug gang crackdown.

Sussex Police have taken down a gang based in Brighton and Hove, jailing a total of nine people in a two-year operation.

At Lewes Crown Court six people were sentenced to a total of 46 years and nine months for charges including conspiracy to supply heroin and crack cocaine.

Police said the group targeted young and vulnerable individuals through violence, exploitation and intimidation.

The gang members employed young people to carry out street dealing on their behalf while higher level leaders maintained control of the money.

“This was a long, complex investigation into an organised crime gang responsible for spreading untold devastation among our communities," said Detective Inspector Dee Wells, of Brighton and Hove’s community investigations team.

“The supply of illegal drugs is hugely destructive, going hand in hand with violence and exploitation, and underpinning all manner of wider criminality. As harmful substances, they also decimate the lives of their users."

A channel of drug supply into the city known as the HECTOR line was first identified in August 2018, when a mobile phone linked to the distribution of Class A drugs including crack cocaine and heroin was discovered.

The Argus: Seized Class A drugs, in the gang's distinctive blue and red wrapsSeized Class A drugs, in the gang's distinctive blue and red wraps (Image: Sussex Police)

Dealers and customers are linked by mobile phone numbers, through which deals are conducted.

Typically the main number is controlled by a distant, senior gang member in the larger urban area.

But in this case, senior gang members operated within Sussex, giving investigators a greater opportunity to target offenders at all levels of the hierarchy.

Over two years, police officers carried out covert and overt operations, surveillance, intelligence gathering and enforcement.

The investigation found the HECTOR line changed phone numbers four times over four years. These numbers were found on the mobile phones of five people who died in drug-related circumstances between 2018 and 2020.

Sussex Police's community investigations team partnered with the Metropolitan Police to disrupt the gang's activity. Dozens of people were arrested and huge amounts of drugs were seized.

Alongside that work, a case was built to charge a large number of senior, mid and street-level members with being part of a conspiracy to supply crack cocaine and heroin.

Six men were sentenced to jail: 

  • Tamer Elsherif, 50, of Cottenham Road in Worthing, charged with conspiracy to supply heroin and crack cocaine. Sentenced to ten years in prison.
  • Mustafa Ahmed, 25, of no fixed address, charged with conspiracy to supply heroin and crack cocaine. Sentenced to ten years in prison.
  • Ahmed Issa, 27, of Plashet Road in Plaistow, London, charged with conspiracy to supply heroin and crack cocaine. Sentenced to nine years in prison.
  • Abdulqafar Farah, 26, of Old Montague Street, Tower Hamlets, London, charged with conspiracy to supply heroin and crack cocaine. Sentenced to eight years in prison.
  • Abdijabar Ahmad, 23, of Roman Road, Tower Hamlets, London, charged with conspiracy to supply heroin and crack cocaine. Sentenced to five years and three months in prison.
  • Anice Ali Nur, 21, of Gaverick Mews, Tower Hamlets, London, charged with conspiracy to supply heroin and crack cocaine. Sentenced to four years and six months in prison.

The Argus: Huge amounts of drugs were seized by officersHuge amounts of drugs were seized by officers (Image: Sussex Police)

They joined three people jailed in 2020 for more than seven years for their involvement in the conspiracy:

  • Hamse Musa, 26, of Purdy Street, Tower Hamlets, London, charged with conspiracy to supply heroin and crack cocaine. Sentenced to three years in prison on February 10, 2020. Assets were also seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
  • Hussen Dualeh, 30, of Mayflower Road, Billericay, charged with conspiracy to supply heroin and crack cocaine. Sentenced to three years and four months in prison on February 10, 2020. Assets were also seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
  • Kieran Rice, 19, of Melbury Avenue, Southall, charged with conspiracy to supply heroin and crack cocaine and racially aggravated public order. Sentenced to eight years in a young offenders’ institute.

Detective Inspector Wells said:“DC Piggott has worked tirelessly to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice.  I am delighted with these sentences.

“I would like to thank our partners in the Metropolitan Police for their support in this investigation, which has taken a large number of dangerous people and substances off the streets.

“Our commitment to tackling County Lines drug dealing is unwavering and we will continue to make Brighton and Hove, and the wider county, an inhospitable place for suppliers to operate.”