A drug dealer from Liverpool who flooded homes in a Greater Manchester town with drugs has been jailed.
Adam Jarir used houses in Atherton to store, prepare and distribute class A substances in a method known as cuckooing, Bolton Crown Court heard.
The 29-year-old was part of a county lines gang that brought heroin and crack cocaine to Wigan borough, leading to estimated sales exceeding £800,000.
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Jarir, who went by the nickname 'Biggie', was one of the group's spearheads alongside Jake Muldoon, 23, who was also known as 'Scouse Joe'.
At a sentencing hearing on Monday (February 14), Jarir was jailed for six years and six months after admitting conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
Muldoon was sentenced last December along with four other men from the Leigh and Atherton areas - Jamie Ashcroft, Declan Prescott, Nathan Rutter and Rhys Jones.
At a two-day hearing last December, Bolton Crown Court heard that Jarir frequently travelled to houses in Atherton used as part of the group's county lines operation, including a property which belonged to Ashcroft's mum Marie Ledwith.
Greater Manchester Police's Wigan Challenger Team executed a warrant on Bridges Street, Atherton, on November 1, 2018.
Jarir and Jones, 22, were arrested and heroin, drugs production equipment, shotgun ammunition and £4,000 in cash was recovered, among other significant items.
Phones recovered from that raid enabled officers to link Ashcroft, 22, Prescott, 24, and Rutter, 21, to the conspiracy.
The trio also were understood to be stealing vehicles for the purpose of the organised crime group's illicit activities. Ashcroft, Prescott, and Rutter were all arrested and found to be in possession of class A drugs.
Prescott was stopped by police twice while in a stolen vehicle. On the first occasion he made off, reaching speeds of 80mph in a 30 zone, and rammed a police car.
After his arrest on another occasion, he made threats to 'chop up' the two officers arresting him with two large machetes that were in the car at the time of his arrest.
Prescott was later stabbed repeatedly in the head by Muldoon after he 'lost' £5,000 worth of drugs.
Following a police chase, Rutter was arrested and was found to have a machete, a Taser, a knife, and CS spray.
It was when police arrested Ashcroft in January 2020 that they discovered he was paying his mum Ledwith, 39, £50 per day to store drugs at her home.
Despite being remanded in custody, Muldoon continued to run the business from a mobile phone he had within his cell in prison, directing Ashcroft in the supply and distribution of drugs.
All seven of the group - the six men and Ledwith - were charged with various drugs, driving and violent offences.
During a sentencing hearing last December, Recorder Sarah Johnston said: "Anyone who spends time in these courts will quickly appreciate the devastating impact that drug dealing has on society.
"Lives are destroyed, relationships are broken and communities are blighted by the criminal activity undertaken by those in desperate need of cash to fund their terrible addiction."
The group have now all been sentenced to more than 40 years behind bars for their parts in the conspiracy.
Jarir, of Kingsland Crescent, Liverpool, was sentenced to six years and six months behind bars today after admitting offences of conspiracy to supply class A controlled drugs.
Muldoon, of Lowerson Crescent, Norris Green, Liverpool, was sentenced to six-and-a-half years after admitting offences of conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
He is serving that sentence in addition to the nine years which he is serving for the stabbing of Declan Prescott - taking his sentence to 15-and-a-half years in total.
Ashcroft, of Keble Grove, Leigh, was sentenced to six years after being found guilty of offences of conspiracy to supply class A controlled drugs.
Prescott, from Atherton, was sentenced to two years and nine months after admitting offences of conspiracy to supply class A controlled drugs and dangerous driving.
He was also sentenced to a further four years for two unrelated offences of robbery, taking his sentence to six years and nine months.
Rutter, of Wigan Road, Leigh, was sentenced to five years after admitting offences of conspiracy to supply class A controlled drugs, possession of a prohibited weapon and dangerous driving.
Jones, of Railway Road, Leigh, was sentenced to three-and-a-half years after admitting the offences of conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
Ledwith, of Hilda Street, Leigh, was sentenced to a community order after admitting the offence of allowing her premises to be used for the supply of class A controlled drugs.
Det Sgt Simon Monks, of GMP Wigan's Challenger Team, said: "Being engaged in this level of organised crime - and inflicting misery on our streets, as a result - is absolutely not going to be tolerated.
"Our investigation team in Leigh have put in hundreds of hours as part of this operation and this only highlights our unwavering commitment to act on intelligence by taking robust action to prosecute suspects and to safeguard any potential victims.
"The way that Jarir and Muldoon - in particular - tried to spearhead this illicit enterprise by storing and distributing large amounts of class A drugs, travelling from Merseyside to Wigan, demonstrates how the very nature of county lines gangs means they don’t respect borders and certainly don't care for the people whose lives they destroy."
