A London drug dealer who travelled to sell heroin and crack cocaine in Ramsgate has been jailed.
Cameron Johnson, of Frinton Road, Plaistow, was arrested by Kent Police officers investigating the ‘Reds’ county drugs line.
County Lines gangs are criminal networks involved in exporting illegal drugs using dedicated mobile phone lines or other form of “deal line.”
The 22-year-old admitted supplying heroin and crack cocaine and was jailed for four years at Canterbury Crown Court on Tuesday (February 25).
Messages were sent to a drug user in Ramsgate from Johnson’s phone on Monday, December 30, 2019, offering ‘new whisky and brandy’- his code words for drugs.
His Vauxhall Insignia was then spotted in the Ramsgate area on Thursday, January 2.
Officers from Kent Police and the Metropolitan Police carried out a warrant at his home in east London on Thursday, January 23.
They found a phone used to send hundreds of messages offering drugs, as well as a small quantity of cocaine in his car.
Detective Constable Jonathan Heard, Kent Police’s investigating officer, said: “The drugs Johnson was ferrying into Thanet would have brought misery to the lives of users and their families.
“We are determined to shut down county lines networks and this sentence shows that prison awaits those bring who class A drugs into Kent.”
Data from the National Crime Agency says there are 1,000 branded County Lines working across the country with 2,000 ‘deal lines.’ Data from 2016 compiled by organisations including Thanet council and Kent Police shows 14 London County Lines gangs operating on the isle. This figure may now be higher as an increasing number of lines operate under the radar of the authorities.
