Three men and a woman were allegedly part of £400k Midlands drugs conspiracy
The defendants on trial were among six people who were arrested under the West Midlands County Lines Taskforce.
Three men and a woman from the were arrested for allegedly taking part in a Black Country-led crack cocaine and heroin operation estimated to have raked in sums of to £400,000.
Connor Reed, of Tipton, Liam Hickman, of Cradley Heath, Wiktoria Gadja, of Walsall, Kyle Sherbourne, of Corby, are all standing trial for conspiracy to supply class A drugs between January 1 and November 27 last year.
Prosecutor Miss Caroline Harris told the jury at Wolverhampton Crown Court the county lines enterprise involved the use of a “switchboard” phone line known as the ‘Milo Line’ which also operated in Corby, Northamptonshire. It was estimated to have earned between £130,460-£376,320 during the period.
Miss Harris said: “The prosecution alleges that each defendant played their part in supplying class A drugs. To be convicted of such an offence each person does not have to be selling drugs on the street themselves. They do not have to receive money or some other reward for doing so.
“As with any business it requires a producer, buyers and a middle man each playing a different role to ensure that class A drugs reach their customers. Each person in the businesses would be rewarded in different ways. Those in control of the operation earn significant sums of cash and those on the ground doing leg work get lesser reward.
“Some of those involved have already pleaded guilty including a defendant called Luke Adams who we say is a the top of the tree and another called Ben Simpson.”
She said the Milo Line was run using a sim card which was switched between 19 phone different handsets in the time it was in operation and that West Midland Police experts identified that its use stretched to the Corby area. She said it was used to sent bulk text messages to drug users and that the number was spotted or the phones of other people.
The court heard that some of the defendants in the conspiracy including Adams, of Stanhope Road, Smethwick, were spoken to a number of times by officers patrolling trunk roads in the region after being seen in cars which had run out of fuel, but despite their phones being checked the sim was not found.
Miss Harris said when the group were arrested at various addresses in Sandwell, Walsall and Corby, a substantial amount of drugs, weapons including a zombie knife and phones were seized by officers.
Reed, aged 22, of Shaw Road, Dudley Port, Tipton; Hickman, aged 22, of Willow Close, Cradley Heath; Gadja, aged 21, of Floyds Lane, Rushall; and Sherbourne, aged 19, of Kelvin Grove, Corby, all deny the allegations. The trial continues.