How police caught up with Birmingham rapper Stardom and his ‘Flash line’ drugs crew

They supplied heroin and crack cocaine from the West Midlands to users in Aberdeen for four years.

But now the ‘Flash line’ drugs crew headed up by Birmingham rapper Stardom are languishing in jail with sentences totalling more than 46 years.

The drug dealers set up a dedicated line for their customers which they ran from 2017 to 2021. Stardom, whose real name is Rikardo Reid, was supported by his second in command Joshua Nelson who was also a rapper- known as Pepc.

How the law caught up with the ‘Flash line’ drugs crew from the West Midlands

West Midlands Police worked with officers in Scotland to set up Operation Tiger to investigate the supply of Class A drugs heroin and cocaine from Birmingham to Aberdeen.

Their investigation found that users in Aberdeen would call a dedicated line which operated from the West Midlands. They would then be provided with the drugs through street dealers in Aberdeen.

In addition to rappers Reid and Nelson, the ‘Flash line’ drugs crew included Mickel Gardner, Ian Massie, Himesh Suri and Cree Dacres.

Gardner would store the drugs before they were then moved on to Aberdeen, where they were transported by Dacres and Suri. Massie would then assist in the sale of the heroin and crack in the Aberdeen area.

During the investigation, several seizures were made including heroin, crack cocaine and large amounts of cash. The Flash drug line was recovered from Reid's home in 2020.

Reid, Nelson, Gardner, Dacres and Suri pleaded guilty, and Ian Massie was found guilty after a three-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court. A further trial is due to take place later this year for nine other people linked to the drugs line.

The first group of six from ‘Flash line’ were jailed on Thursday, May 9 and received the following sentences:

• Rikardo Reid, 34-years-old, - pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply Class A drugs - heroin and crack cocaine, converting and transferring criminal property. Reid was jailed for 12 years and nine months.
• Joshua Nelson, 35-years-old, pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply Class A drugs, heroin and crack cocaine. Nelson was jailed for 12 years and 10 months.
• Mickel Gardner, 40-years-old, pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply Class A drugs - heroin and crack cocaine. Gardner was jailed for five years.
• Cree Dacres, 29-years-old, pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply Class A drugs - heroin and crack cocaine. Dacres was jailed for three years and five months.
• Himesh Suri, 28-years-old, pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply Class A drugs - heroin and crack cocaine, converting and transferring criminal property. Suri was jailed for nine months.
• Ian Massie, 41-years-old, pleaded not guilty to supplying Class A drugs - heroin and crack cocaine, and converting and transferring criminal property - but was found guilty following a three-week trial. Massie was jailed for 11 years and six months.