Five men from Hackney who sold drugs in Huntingdon via two ‘county lines’ were jailed for more than 36 years on Friday (21 September) at Wood Green Crown Court.

Rashayne Hunter, 20, of Evelyn Court, Amhurst Road, Hackney was previously found guilty of two counts of conspiring to supply a class A drug. He was sentenced to ten years and six months’ imprisonment.

Samuel Awoyera, 20, of Evelyn Court, Amhurst Road, Hackney was previously found guilty of two counts of conspiring to supply a class A drug. He was sentenced to seven years and six months’ imprisonment.

Sherif Isiaka, 19 of Eastdown House, Amhurst Road, Hackney pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply class A. He was sentenced to seven years and five months’ imprisonment.

Jodeci Ofulue, 24, of Parkside Estate, Rutland Road, and Hackney previously pleaded guilty of two counts of conspiring to supply a class A drug. He was sentenced to six years and nine months’ imprisonment.

A 17-year-old was previously found guilty of two counts of conspiring to supply a class A drug and one count of possession of criminal property. He was sentenced to four years and four months’ imprisonment.

The men, who all have links to a street gang in Hackney, sold the drugs in Peterborough and Huntingdon via dedicated phone lines nicknamed ‘Ricki’ and ‘TJ’.

They were arrested following a nine-month long investigation by the Central Gangs Unit, part of the Met’s Trident and Area Crime Command.

Jodeci Ofulue was arrested on 2 November 2017 as he approached an abandoned vehicle in Hawksbill Way, Peterborough. When police attempted to stop him he ran away, dropping his keys and the mobile phone controlling the ‘Ricki’ line. Police found nearly £14,000 worth of heroin and crack cocaine, scales and used latex gloves in the car.

The other men were arrested at their home addresses on 1 March this year.

Detectives used phone analysis and police surveillance to link each man to the drug dealing network, demonstrating contact between the defendants’ phones, the two ‘deal lines’ and local drug users in Cambridgeshire, as well as the locations of the deal lines and the defendants’ personal phones.

During the course of the investigation, drugs with a street value in excess of £17,000 were seized, along with designer clothing, jewellery, cash in excess of £25,000 and a watch valued at more than £20,000, which had previously been reported as stolen.

DS Gary Clarke of Trident’s Central Gangs Unit, said: “This was a complex investigation into a lucrative ‘county line’ drugs network, operating between Hackney and Cambridgeshire.

“Drug dealers prey on local users and use violence and intimidation, bringing with them misery and violent crime to local communities.

“These sentences demonstrate just how seriously the criminal justice system is taking the issue of county lines drugs rings.”