The main players of a drugs gang were taken down after £35,000 was found hidden inside a dustbin in Liverpool.
Reece Fraser, Jay Taylor and Vincent Robinson were part of a 12-strong gang who peddled drugs to Leicestershire and Hertfordshire from Nottinghamshire, Merseyside and Cambridgeshire.
They were tracked down following a five month police investigation into the gang by the East Midlands Special Operations Unit (EMSOU), Leicestershire Live reports.
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During the investigation, more than a kilogram of cocaine stamped ‘Gold’ was seized by police from a Mercedes near Castle Donington in Leicestershire.
Half of kilogram of heroin was also recovered from an Astra near Leicester and £35,000 was found hidden in a dustbin in Liverpool.
A further half a kilogram of cocaine and £8,000 was seized by police after it was thrown out of a Mercedes involved in a highspeed pursuit.
The defendant, Deon Farrow, of Leicester, then climbed up a tree to escape from police officers but was arrested at the scene.
Nine members of the drugs gang were jailed for more than 50 years in 2019 after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.
The final three members, Reece Fraser, Jay Taylor and Vincent Robinson, pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of class A drugs, namely cocaine, in November 2021.
The men, who were described as the "main players" in the gang, were sentenced on Friday, January 14, at Northampton Crown Court.
Fraser, 32, of Acacia Drive, Nottingham, was sentenced to three years and four months in prison. However, due to the time served on remand he would not need to serve any additional term in prison.
Taylor, 34, of Carnarvon Grove, Carlton, Nottingham, and Robinson, 59, of First Avenue, Carlton, Nottingham, were both sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for two years. They were also both ordered to complete unpaid work.
EMSOU Detective Chief Inspector James Avery said after the final sentencings: “This was an organised group of drug dealers with national reach.
"Now that all those involved have been dealt with by the courts, and heroin and cocaine with a street value of £170,000 removed from circulation, we see yet another criminal enterprise dismantled and communities across the country no longer suffering the harm caused by them.
"But we’re not stopping there. The next stop is recovering their criminal proceeds through the Proceeds of Crime Act."
The nine men previously sentenced - at Leicester Crown Court between Wednesday 20 and Friday 29 November 2019 - were:
- Kristian Lynas King (47), formerly of Forest Gate, in Anstey, jailed for nine years and eight months.
- Kulraj Gill (48), formerly of Fox Hollow, in Oadby, jailed for four years and 10 months
- Deon Farrow (29), formerly of Willow Brook Road, Humberstone, in Leicester, jailed for seven years and eight months
- Akbar Pathan (37), formerly of Mount Avenue, in Spinney Hills, Leicester, jailed for two years and six months.
- Ameen Jogee (32), formerly of London Road, Leicester, jailed for two years and four months.
- Neil Falanga (40), formerly of Aldeburgh Close, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, jailed for six years.
- Marc Fleetwood (34), formerly of Rice Lane in Liverpool, jailed for five years and nine months.
- Ameed Hussain (33), formerly of Windmill Street, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, jailed for four years.
Michael Graham (39), formerly of Derby Road, Liverpool, jailed for 12 years.
A tenth man was acquitted.
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