A prolific county lines drugs gang which used children as young as 13 face years in prison for flooding streets with heroin and crack cocaine.
The ‘Rico/Mitch’ gang, which operated between London and Devon, filmed themselves with huge stacks of £50 notes while boasting ‘Splash dat cash’.
Two gang members, Shuiab Awadh, 24, and Bobo Faki, 19, were found guilty at Exeter Crown Court of being part of a conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.
Two gang members, Shuiab Awadh (left), 24, and Bobo Faki (right), 19, were found guilty at Exeter Crown Court of being part of a conspiracy to supply Class A drugs
Faisal Ibraham (left), 25, of Gillingham, Kent, and Hassan Sufi (right), 20, of Dagenham, East London, have both admitted conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine
Another six men and one woman have already pleaded guilty to their part in the crime. All nine will return to the court to be sentenced later this year.
The trial, one of the first to use child exploitation as an aggravating factor, heard how the ‘Rico’ county lines gang sent youngsters from London to conduct their deals.
Older gang members accompanied them to book hotel rooms in Exeter or take over the homes of local addicts – an act known as cuckooing – to organise sales in the city.
Police linked members of the gang using a mixture of CCTV, phone evidence, DNA and taxi journey records.
Video released by police shows a gang member lounging on a bed while muttering and stroking a handful of notes against his face.
Video released by police shows gang member Faisal Ibraham holding cash to his head lounging on a bed while muttering and stroking a handful of notes against his face
Footage shows gang leader Hassan Sufi grinning while holding a stack of £20 and £50 notes
Another in a Nike tracksuit smokes and flashes his watch beside a box of new shoes.
Footage also shows gang leader Hassan Sufi grinning while holding a stack of £20 and £50 notes.
Voices can be heard in another video saying ‘Splash dat cash’ as money is tossed on the ground.
Gang co-leader Yakub Sufi can be seen with an unknown friend counting cash on the floor while an incriminating county line drugs mobile phone sits on the bed close by.
Police began an undercover operation in the summer of 2017 using an officer posing as a drug user.
He would receive text messages from lines – named Rico, Mitch and Pricey – saying ‘We’ve got deals for you today’.
Another gang member in a Nike tracksuit flashes his watch beside a box of new shoes
A box for designer clothing seen in a video featuring Hassan Sufi, released by police
Police arrested several drug runners but turned their attention to those further up the chain.
On September 8, 2017, a boy, aged 14 and a gang member called Ahmed Abullahi, were both injured when they jumped from a first floor bedroom in Exeter.
The gang mock Devon and Cornwall Police’s press release about county lines gangs
The teenager said he had brought drugs from London and, thrown them into a neighbouring garden when questioned. Their phones were linked to the Rico and Mitch county lines.
Police connected different members of the gang through phones and car journeys over the next year.
A woman called Khadija Sharif was caught travelling with drugs from London to Exeter – and used a 14-year-old girl to deliver to users.
Faki travelled in cars with members of the gang, packaged drugs for them and visited Hassan Sufi’s apartment in London.
A dealer’s list using the words D for dark (heroin) and L for light (cocaine) was also found with him and wraps of drugs with his DNA were discovered on a 15-year-old boy arrested in Exeter. The defendant made no comment to police.
Awadh visited the West Country city with two others over Christmas in 2017 and booked into a hotel near the airport.
Within minutes of his arrival the Pedro line was texting ‘Pedro 24 hours no waiting around’.
‘Awadh came down in that car and that car was bringing drugs to sell on the streets of Exeter,’ said prosecutor Mr Joss Ticehurst.
Khadijia Sharif (left), 20, of South Woodford, and Yakub Sufi (right) both admitted conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine
‘The dispute between the prosecution and both the defendants is whether they were involved in what the other defendants were involved in.’
Mr Ticehurst told the trial: ‘Those two men achieved their supply of drugs onto the streets of Exeter through what has become known as a ‘county lines’ operation.
‘Drugs are sent to Exeter from London to be dealt on the streets.
‘The operation had phone numbers associated with all of these drugs – each phone number was given a brand name like Mitch or Rico.
‘These phone numbers were used to market, predominantly through text messages, the availability of drugs to people who might have wanted to buy them.’
Robin Janowski (left), 39, of Exeter, and Jake Taplin (right), 22, of HMP Mount in Hertfordshire, both admitted being concerned in the supply of heroin and cocaine
Awadh, 24, of Stratford, East London, and Faki, 19, of Plaistow, East London, were found guilty and will return to court to be sentenced on June 14.
Other defendants, who have already pleaded guilty, include Ahmed Abdullahi, 21, of Harringay, North London, for conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine; and Robin Janowski, 39, of Exeter, for being concerned in the supply of heroin and cocaine.
Also having pleaded guilty are Yakub Sufi for conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine; Khadijia Sharif, 20, of South Woodford, North East London, for conspiracy to supply heroin and cocain; Hassan Sufi, 20, of Dagenham, East London, for conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine; Faisal Ibraham, 25, of Gillingham, Kent, for conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine, of Jake Taplin, 22, of HMP Mount in Hertfordshire, for being concerned in the supply of heroin and cocaine.