The final members of a 30 strong gang were sentenced over 'Liverpool graft' drug lines
A total of 30 gang members were jailed for over 150 years following an investigation into County Lines drug dealing and the criminal use of firearms. Despite there being a national lockdown, these criminals, based in Norris Green, became extremely resourceful, making more than 100 deliveries to dealers and using vulnerable women to avoid detection from January 2020 to February 2021.
The group made small, but almost daily deliveries, estimated to be a total excess of £100,000 worth of class A drugs. Merseyside Police raided a farm on the outskirts of Kirkby in April 2020, dealing a severe blow to the gang.
READ MORE: The notorious gang members who will serve a total of 151 years behind bars
During the raid officers found a sawn-off shotgun, an air rifle and almost 100 rounds of ammunition. Although there is no evidence to suggest these firearms were ever shot, police say they had the ability to cause devastation in communities.
A further investigation from Merseyside Police identified three more county line ‘grafts’ in Morecambe, Plymouth and Torquay and a Liverpool ‘graft’.
The remaining two gang members, Niall Crawford and Colin Brown, appeared in Liverpool Crown Court on Friday, May 6 for sentencing. Crawford, of Pitsmead Road, Kirkby, was sentenced to five and a half years for conspiracy to supply cocaine and a separate charge of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs from May 2019.
Brown, 43, of River View, Plymouth, was sentenced to 29 months for assisting an OCG.
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Drew said: "We know the destruction that drug dealing brings to our communities. Those involved in the supply of drugs and use of weapons have no regard for the lives they affect and the harm they can cause, and we are committed to pursuing those involved in serious and organised crime and bringing them to justice.
"We are constantly working with other forces and partners to target offenders and take action, and information from our communities plays a vital part in this. I would like to urge anyone with information on criminality in your area to please come forward so we can act upon it."
If you have information on the storage of weapons or use of drugs, please contact @MerPolCC, or 101. Alternatively, you can pass information to independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously on 0800 555 111.
