Man jailed for seven years for operating class A drugs network between London and Portsmouth

Andrew Brown, of Calverley Close in Beckenham, was arrested in London as part of a proactive drugs investigation into a county line being run from the capital into Portsmouth.

The court heard how 36-year-old Brown was arrested in November 2021, following a joint investigation by Hampshire Constabulary’s eastern proactive investigation team and the Metropolitan Police Service as part of operation orochi.

Brown was charged and later convicted of being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin between March and November 2021. He was sentenced to seven years in prison at Swindon Crown Court on Friday, April 8.

PC Fae Blundell, from the eastern proactive investigations team, said: ‘We are pleased that Brown is being held accountable for his crimes and hope that this sentence sends out a strong message to drug dealers that offences of this kind will not be tolerated in Portsmouth or Hampshire.

‘If dealers try and set up a network in any part of the county, we will work relentlessly to find them and bring them before the courts.

‘We are actively working to disrupt county lines drug dealing and our key aim is to prevent the exploitation of vulnerable people.

‘Violence is linked to drugs and this is why we are tackling and disrupting the supply of drugs coming into the county.

‘It is vital that we keep working to reduce violent crime and keep people safe.’

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Detective Constable Kevin Foley, from the Met’s operation orochi, added: ‘County lines drug dealers exploit young and vulnerable people to facilitate their drug supply. They hope that by using vulnerable children and adults as drugs runners they will shield themselves from identification and prosecution by law enforcement.

‘This investigation has shown police forces are working together to pursue those involved with drug supply.’

Anyone who you suspects drug-related activity in their area is urged to contact the police via 101 or online at hampshire.police.uk.

Alternatively people can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at crimestoppers-uk.org.