Jay Line drugs gang that exploited children to sell heroin and cocaine sentenced to 29 years in prison
A drugs gang who used children to peddle heroin and cocaine from the Midlands across the UK have been locked up for more than 29 years. The ’complex network of dealers’ supplied their stash of drugs using the AB Line and Jay Line.
Ringleader Brian Asante even used children to help move and supply drugs. The 23-year-old ran the drugs enterprise from addresses he lived at or had connections with in Wolverhampton and Stafford.
The gang used mobile phones as contact points for customers to run the AB Line and the Jay Line between February and September 2021. Phones and SIM cards were seized when police arrested Asante at his home in Canberra Drive, Stafford.
An investigation established links between all the defendants, West Midlands Police said. Mobile phone data connected gang members to text messages about drugs being available and locations involved.
Asante pictured next to a stash of cash (Image: West Midlands Police)
Officers also uncovered images - including one of Asante posing on a wall with a bottle of alcohol and a pile of bank notes. Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) data helped police trace the movements of vehicles used by the gang as they travelled between the towns delivering shipments and selling drugs.
Phone data also indicated Asante exploited children to deal drugs, using Snapchat to communicate with one youngster. Asante denied child exploitation and was convicted of the charge following a five-week trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court in July.
He also admitted conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine. The defendant was jailed for 13 years and four months today (Friday, October 18).
His accomplices were also sentenced. They were:
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Simon McTaggart, 38 of Tettenhall Road, Wolverhampton, was jailed for six years and 11 months after being convicted of conspiracy to supply heroin and crack cocaine
- Maurice Reid, 55, of The Cloisters, Burton-upon-Trent, was jailed for six years and 10 months after being convicted of conspiracy to supply heroin and crack cocaine
- James Carroll, 46, of Dumble Close, Corby, Northamptonshire, was jailed for two years and two months after being convicted of facilitating travel for a child for the purpose of exploitation
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Alicia Cox, 25, of Wesley Road, Bilbrook, South Staffordshire, was handed a 20-month sentence, suspended for 24 months after being convicted of assisting an organised crime group by transporting a child for the purpose of selling drugs
A number of other defendants will be sentenced at a future date. They are:
- Meghan Lawrence, 21 of Manitoba Croft, Birmingham, was convicted of conspiracy to supply heroin and crack cocaine
- Emma Gill, 42, of Convent Close, Wolverhampton, was convicted of conspiracy to supply heroin and crack cocaine
- Dhillon Swarn, 20, of Moat Road, Walsall, was convicted of conspiracy to supply heroin and crack cocaine
- Gulam Izdani, 22 of Luddesdown Road, Swindon, was convicted of conspiracy to supply heroin and crack cocaine
DS Gavin McGrath, from West Midlands Police’s county lines taskforce, previously said: "This was a well-developed and complex network of dealers who were supplying large quantities of heroin and cocaine to people many miles away. We worked with Staffordshire Police, Northampton Police and Police Scotland to gather intelligence, evidence and secure arrests.
"Ultimately we were able to dismantle their operation and safeguard two children who were being trafficked as part of the illegal operation."
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