Portsmouth men and another male sentenced for county lines drug dealing after Brighton hotel raid

Portsmouth natives Reggie Gwyer, Steven Tunbridge and Shaun Harper were punished after being linked to drug dealing in East Sussex. Daniel Ghasemi was also convicted.

Sussex Police officers detained Gwyer, 22, of Harleston Road, Wymering, and Ghasemi, 37, of North Road, Brighton, after spotting them dealing narcotics to the street community in Manchester Street, Brighton. The arrests were made on September 7, 2022.

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Ghasemi was found carrying a large amount of cash and a white Nokia phone which received a call from a county line known as the BOSS line while in the presence of officers. Gwyer had Class A drugs, cash and multiple mobile phones on his person when he was detained.

He admitted they were related to drug dealing. The pair’s hotel room was searched and Harper, 30, of Braintree Road, Wymering, and Tunbridge, 29, of Estella Road, Buckland, were found inside.

Tunbridge was hiding in the bathroom and Harper tried to escape through the window before being arrested. More than 500 wraps of Class A drugs, cash and multiple mobile phones were discovered in the room.

One of the devices was found in the toilet in an apparent attempt to destroy it – with the phone having confirmed links to the BOSS county line. The four men were arrested and charged being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin.

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Ghasemi was jailed for two years at Lewes Crown Court on September 15. At the same court, Harper was jailed for five years on June 23 and Tunbridge for three years and three months. Gwyer was given an 18 month prison term – suspended for two years.

Detective Constable Marcus Roberts said: “Yet again we have shown with these convictions that Sussex Police is committed to tackling drug-related crime and protecting the community. In this instance we were able to take decisive action on community intelligence, gather evidence and bring four people into custody.

“We were also able to take a significant amount of harmful substances off the streets and shut down a county drugs line spreading harm in our communities. This result shows how important it is that the public reports any concerns to the police.”