A gang leader who supplied drugs from his base in Ashfield to customers in the Banbury area of Oxford has been jailed for seven years. Musa Njie, 34, lived in properties in Eastwood and Hucknall while he was running the “county lines” drugs supply operation.
County lines is a term used to describe cross-county drug supply operations by organised criminal groups. Dealers believe that supplying drugs outside their home areas means that they are less likely to be caught. Nottinghamshire Police said that “county line” is the mobile phone used to take orders for the drugs.
On Monday (13 May) Njie was sentenced to seven years in jail after admitting conspiracy to supply Class A drugs between December 2020 and March 2021.
He had been arrested after an “extensive” police operation using “a range of different digital forensic techniques” to “connect the dots and link Njie to the conspiracy”. The investigation used cell site data to map his movements and detailed analysis of phone content and transfer of data.
“Through this painstaking mobile phone work, detectives were able to obtain evidence that Njie had been travelling from Nottingham to Banbury and had been in contact with lower-level drug dealers involved in the operation as well as customers”, Nottinghamshire Police said.
The conspiracy involved using mobile phones to send bulk marketing messages to drugs users, advertising the supply and availability of controlled drugs and instructing customers where to go to buy them from an address in the Banbury area.
Njie was arrested in March 2021 after police stopped a car in the Radford area. “Searches were subsequently carried out at an address in Portland Road, Hucknall, where officers recovered quantities of white powder and drug paraphernalia and seized mobile phones from the property”, Nottinghamshire Police said.
Detective Inspector Luke Todd added: “As our complex work in cases like this one shows, we are continuing to do everything in our power to prosecute criminals involved in organised drug crime and to safeguard our communities and vulnerable young people who they prey upon and exploit for their own gain.
“Our proactive county lines team, supported by other force teams and resources, continues to tackle this problem all year round and it’s testament to the hard work, dedication, and teamwork shown by officers that we are able to shut down county lines operations such as this one.” Targeting drug dealers continues to be a priority for police in Ashfield. Police are urging anybody with information to call them on 101. Alternatively, information can be passed anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
