Men deny part in £1.5m drug deals
Four men have denied being part of a ‘well-oiled’ and 'slick' £1.5 million drugs operation.
Lea Brown, aged 32 of Tanfield Avenue, Blowers Green, Dudley, Anthony Smith, 23, of Heath Road, Netherton, and Hammas Naeem, 23, of Valley Road, Lye Stourbridge, all appeared at Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday.
Neil Waldron, 49 of Love Lane, Stourbridge, was absent due to a back injury.
They are charged with conspiracy to supply class A drugs, namely cocaine between October 1, 2015 and April 5, 2017, and conspiracy to supply class A drugs, namely diamorphine, commonly known as heroin. They all deny both charges.
Timothy Pascall, 22 of Ashfield Crescent, Dudley, Ian Martin, 40 of Hillside Avenue, Quarry Bank, and Jason Isaarq, 26, of Robin Hood Road, Brierley Hill, pleaded guilty to the same charges.
Jemma Cooper, 25, also of Robin Hood Road, was acquitted. The court heard Lea Brown, nicknamed Butch or Butcher, was allegedly the ringleader, with Smith, Naeem and Waldron, acting as street dealers.
The court heard police raided a property on Chapel Street, Lye, on November 24, 2015, arresting Waldron and Martin after finding 99 packets of heroin. These had a street value of £10 per pack.
A total of 171 wraps of crack cocaine were found in 20 gram packs, worth a total of £1,700. There was also £1,000 in cash and two sets of digital scales.
A piece of paper was also found at the address, which contained Anthony Smith’s fingerprints. Another incident on February 8, 2016 saw police pursue a speeding black Audi A3 car in Tipton. The car was being driven, police said, by Timothy Pascall with Anthony Smith in the back.
The car was found to contain 138 wraps of drugs, worth £1,500, the court heard
Then on September 9, 2016, officers in an unmarked car in Dudley stopped Lea Brown with Anthony Smith near a Mercedes insured in the name of Hammas Naeem.
Police gave chase on foot and were 15 feet behind Lea Brown when he threw a black carrier bag over the wall, the court heard. It contained 31.3 grams of heroin in 392 wraps, with a street value of £4,000.
Mr Kevin Barry, prosecuting, said: “Lea Brown was the director of the group, others were managers. However, the other three defendants were essentially street dealers.
“If you had the stereotypes in your head of drug dealers being chaotic who spend their money all in one go, in this case you’d be mistaken.
“This was a well-oiled, slick business operation and well-organised group that was recording its movements carefully and professionally so that those in charge could keep track of what was going in and out like any other business.”
The prosecutor alleged that the group would make around £1 million a year from the drug sales. Over 18 months this would amount to £1.5m.
The trial continues.
