Gang smuggled drugs from Coventry to Exeter inside Nike trainers

[dutchman]

They were caught by an undercover police operation



A Coventry drugs gang who hid £12,000 worth of heroin and crack cocaine in a pair of Nike trainers have been jailed for a total of almost ten years.

Jordan Hill ran a ‘County Lines’ drug operation selling drugs in Exeter - and recruited local user Naomi Palmer as a driver to take him and fellow dealer Myles Campbell to Devon.

The gang used the street name Chino and brought supplies of drugs from Coventry to Exeter in a car hired by Palmer.

Hill, 28, of Lord Lytton Avenue, Stoke, and Campbell, 19, of Pinley Fields, Stoke Aldermoor, admitted possession of heroin and crack cocaine with intent to supply and three offences of supply.

They were sentenced today at Exeter Crown Court with Hill being jailed for three years eight months and Campbell for two years two months.

Meanwhile, 44-year-old Palmer, of Old Tiverton Road, Exeter, admitted supplying an undercover officer in September 2017 and was found not guilty of possession with intent to supply heroin and crack in February.

She was jailed for three years and six months by Judge Peter Johnson.

The judge told the gang: "There is widespread public concern about the use of class A drugs among members of the public who find used needles near schools and see users in the streets trying to score."

Miss Heather Hope, prosecuting, said the three defendants were all caught when police monitored a car which was hired in Exeter and made two round trips to Coventry in five days.

Hill and Campbell had both supplied drugs to the undercover officer codenamed Jack the day before the car was stopped on February 7 this year on its return to Exeter from a re-supply trip to Coventry.

The Chino phone was found between the front seats, plugged in and charging. A JD Sports bag was found in the boot which contained a shoebox with a pair of size 9 Nike trainers inside.

They had 54.3 grams of heroin and 65.07 grams of cocaine with a total street value of £11,930 inside. A set of electronic scales and a roll of clingfilm were also found in the car.

The phone was examined and there were 148 contacts on it and 50 text messages.

Palmer, who was unemployed and receiving £250 a month Universal Credit, hired the car for a week for £436.