Man jailed for possession of controlled drugs with intent to supply

A county lines drug dealer has been jailed after he was caught with heroin and crack cocaine in Hereford.

On 6 October, Robin Naughton, 41, from West Midlands, was caught by Herefordshire’s Proactive CID Team after catching a train from Birmingham to Hereford with a quantity of class A drugs.

An investigation was launched and it was established Naughton was dealing drugs in Herefordshire as part of a county line being run from the West Midlands.

On Monday 9 November he was sentenced to 28 months’ imprisonment at Worcester Crown Court after pleading guilty to two counts of drug trafficking offences.

Herefordshire Detective Sergeant Nick Strutt said: “Where we have information or intelligence to suggest county lines drug dealing is taking place we will act on this and take robust action.

“We work closely with our partner agencies, to tackle serious and organised crime, such as county lines under our campaign – Protect.

“Protect is West Mercia Police's response to tackling serious and organised crime and those who cause the most harm in our communities to protect people from harm.”

He continued: “I hope this sentence sends a clear warning to those who are involved in county lines that we will look to pursue them and look to disrupt their organised crime network.”