Four men were used as "donkeys" by a Liverpool drugs gang to transport heroin and cocaine to Devon, a court heard.
John Holland, Jack Kirby, Luke Shinner, and Paul Jevons worked for a gang using a phone number nicknamed "Scouse Eddie". The men made trips up and down the motorway transporting drugs sold on the streets of Plymouth.
Three of the men were arrested when a car was stopped on the M5 in Exeter in March last year and drugs with a street value of £21,000 were seized, Devon Live reports.
READ MORE: Drug line 'Scouse Mick' sent half a million pounds by Royal Mail
The men had roles as couriers and runners and were directed by those above them in the chain. It was claimed by one defence barrister that the men were "donkeys" used by others to carry out their dirty work.
The defendants, from Skelmersdale, were sentenced on Monday (April 24) at Exeter Crown Court. Holland, 45, who was not present, was jailed for five years and five months. Jevons, 44, was locked up for two years and nine months.
Prosecutor Mr Peter Coombe said 300g of street-deal heroin and cocaine was seized by police in a car on its way to Plymouth. Investigations revealed Holland, the driver, had made seven previous trips, stopping in the city for an hour or so each time.
Kirby, who was 17 at the time, made five trips in total. Shinner, then 18, was making his first trip. Jevons, of Grenville Road, Plymouth, was linked by messages to the Scouse Eddie line. He had made previous trips.
All of the defendants said they came from difficult backgrounds and were just doing as they were told. Holland was financially motivated, the others were paying off drug debt or financing their habit. Messages on Shinner's phone showed he was threatened into taking part.
Mr Paul Grumbar, defending Jevons, said: "He is a donkey. The people distributing and packaging drugs are nowhere to be seen and use people like the defendant, a completely hopeless character, because he's an easy target.
"I hazard a guess these telephone lines are still operating and it will not make the slightest difference to what is going on."
The defendants each pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine.
Judge Anna Richardson accepted they were sorry for their involvement. Shinner was given a 16-month suspended sentence with 70 hours of unpaid work and 30 rehabilitation days. Kirby was jailed for 21 months, suspended for two years with 100 hours of unpaid work and 20 days of rehabilitation.
READ NEXT:
