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Two crack cocaine and heroin dealers who exploited a vulnerable 15-year-old boy into distributing drugs have been jailed.
David Rosa, 21, and Lamar Griffiths, 29, were each sentenced to more than four years in prison this week, following an investigation by Metropolitan Police and Cambridgeshire police officers.
The probe was launched when, on August 7 last year, police searching for a missing 15-year-old boy found him at the home of a drug user in Peterborough.
Officers analysed the boy’s phone, and discovered Rosa and Griffiths had used him to distribute Class A drugs including heroin and crack cocaine.
By analysing data from the boy’s phone, officers were able to reveal how Rosa and Griffiths had used the boy to distribute Class A drugs, including crack cocaine and heroin.
Two days later, Griffiths was arrested at a property in Newmarket. As police closed in he was seeing trying to discard drugs and his phone from a bedroom window.
Rosa was tracked on a train from Peterborough, and arrested at Cambridge station.
The investigation was carried out without any contribution from the 15-year-old boy, who was not charged with any offence.
He was instead referred to safeguarding services.
On July 15, Rosa, of no fixed abode, was sentenced to four years and two months in prison, at Cambridge Crown Court on July 15.
He previously pleaded guilty to being involved in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin, and human trafficking.
On Thursday (September 12), Lamar Griffiths, of Elizabeth Way in Harlow, was sentenced at the same court to four years, 11 months in prison. He had pleaded guilty to being involved in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin.
Police Constable Jack Hardwick, who led the investigation said: “Rescuing this vulnerable boy from the cruel hands of exploitative drug dealers was our top priority.
“Great credit is owed to the officers within the Met and Cambridgeshire Police whose dedicated, careful work led to Griffiths and Rosa’s arrests.
“It sends a message to drug gangs who exploit vulnerable children – we will catch you and we will bring you to justice.”
The investigation was carried out by officers from Operation Orochi - the Met’s Specialist Crime team dedicated to tackling “high harm” offenders involved in county lines drugs supply.
The operation sees Met officers work in partnership with county police forces, to target London-based drug dealers.
