Jail for County Lines gang looking to expand to Rugby with trafficked drugs valued at almost £250,000

A gang who trafficked drugs valued at almost £250,000 and were looking to expand to Rugby have been jailed for 45 years.

The drugs network, which was brought down by the West Midlands Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU) working with Warwickshire Local Police teams, included a man caught dealing while a young child was in the vehicle he was using.

The gang operated through two Covid lockdowns from January 2019 to July 2020 and are believed to have supplied at least 2.5kg of crack cocaine and heroin into Stratford-upon-Avon and Royal Leamington Spa.

Levi Pollard-Mersom ran the line which used the brand names Kano and CJ.

He exploited addicts to run the drugs, carry out the street deals, and also ‘cuckooed’ homes of vulnerable people to use as supply bases.

The 29-year-old was arrested while drug dealing from a Ford Fiesta in a car park on the outskirts of Stratford-on-Avon on 19 June, 2020.

A one-year-old child was also in the car where police recovered cocaine and heroin.

The child was safeguarded, along with a 17-year-old girl.

Jordan Hill, 31, was another senior member of the gang. He managed deliveries, controlled others, carried out violent acts, and took orders.

Pollard-Mersom’s brother, 20-year-old Paul Walker, initially helped deliver and store drugs, and later took ownership of the line after we arrested Pollard-Mersom.

While Lewis Kerr, 29, acted as transport and muscle for the group and was looking to expand the line into Rugby.Kieron Hill, 23, Nell Desnousse, 22, Hasum Makalo, 18, Gary Brown, 19, and 36-year-old Amy Lamb all acted as drugs runners.