County lines drug dealers who cuckoo-ed a Ludlow house jailed

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Tuesday, 27 August 2019 06:57

By Shaun Moore

Two men from Birmingham have been jailed after they took over a property in a Shropshire town and used it to deal drugs from.

Last October West Mercia Police's Local Organised Crime Team in Shropshire carried out a warrant at the address in Milton Road in Ludlow over concerns it had been 'cuckoo-ed' by county line drug dealers.

Two men from Birmingham were found in the address along with a quantity of drugs.

Sebastian Snow, 26 from Regan Crescent and Theo Thomas, also 26 from Robert Road were sentenced at Shrewsbury Crown Court after pleading guilty to possession with intent to supply class A and B drugs.

Snow was given two years after he was found in possession of more than 100 wraps of crack worth £1700 and £430 worth of heroin.

Thomas was found in possession of £100 worth of cannabis hidden in an empty crisp tube and £930 cash. He was sentenced to 19 months.

Cuckoo-ing is a practice associated with county lines drug dealing that sees drug dealers from outside the area take over the home of someone locally to deal drugs from. They often target people who are vulnerable and or dependent on drugs or alcohol.

DS Andy Chatting, from the Local Organised Crime Team based in Shrewsbury, said: "I hope this sends out a warning to drug dealers who think they can come into our county to deal drugs that we are targeting them and taking action to make sure they are put before the courts and ultimately jailed."

Local police teams work closely with other agencies to make sure those who could be targeted by county lines drug dealers are safeguarded and measures put in place to protect them.