Drug dealers from Oldbury & Tipton jailed for County Lines operation in Wales

Two County Lines dealers from the Black Country have been jailed for more than 12 years for supplying heroin and cocaine to drug users living in a small village in Wales.

Devonn Weston and Blake Sharpe ran a Class A drug supply line in the picturesque village of Llandrindod Wells.

Police identified six drug lines they were controlling including in the towns of Nuneaton and Tamworth.

West Midlands Police said Weston and Sharpe, both aged 23, targeted vulnerable individuals, cuckooed their addresses and exploited young men forcing them to sit inside these homes, where they would be at their beck and call.

The pair maintained hold of the drugs lines, directing those lower down the chain in order to try and distance themselves and minimise their chance of arrest. But police stopped Weston while he was driving a vehicle on 14 July this year.

After his arrest a warrant was conducted in Tamworth where it was believed a drugs line called the ‘Alex line’ was operating. Sharpe, from Shrubbery Avenue, Tipton, wasn’t there but class A drugs, cash and scales were found.

On 13 September Sharpe handed himself in. Police analysed phones, text messages and CCTV in a bid to secure evidence. Text messages sent out from the lines stating things such as ‘best of both’ and ‘on bangin both.’

These were analysed and confirmed to be offering the sale of crack cocaine and heroin. The lines were dubbed various names including the ‘Nunny’ line and the ‘Alex’ line.

Examination of messages also showed Sharpe actively trying to recruit young people to go ‘out of town’ and be involved in drug dealing.

Police charged both men with conspiracy to supply Class A drugs. Weston and Sharpe both pleaded guilty to the charge when they appeared at Birmingham Crown Court.

Weston, from Jackson Street, Oldbury, was sentenced to six years and eight months this week and Sharpe handed a jail term of six years.

What has West Midlands Police said about the operation?

Chief Inspector Tom Hadley, from West Midlands Police Force CID, said: “County Lines drug dealers ruin lives and our officers from the Regional County Lines Taskforce worked hard to stop Weston and Sharpe and bring them to justice.

“County Lines gangs should know they are in our sights and our work goes on 24/7 throughout the year to stop them and get them off our streets.”