Between September 2021 and February 2022, Jordan Catt operated the “CJ” telephone line in town to supply the class A drug.
On February 10, the unemployed 27-year-old was arrested at an address on Pevensey Road in Eastbourne.
Officers from Sussex Police, Surrey Police, and the Metropolitan Police Department collaborated as part of Operation Orochi and Operation Centurion to disrupt “county lines” drug dealing in Sussex.
When Catt was arrested, they seized “burner” phones and his personal phone in his room, and evidence from the phones proved he was the person operating the CJ line.
The investigation revealed that burner phones were used to send bulk marketing messages to potential drug users in Eastbourne.
Their investigation also revealed that Catt, of Park Croft, Polegate, had used the burner phones to make personal calls to his dentist, a veterinary surgery, and taxi companies that he dialled from his personal address.
Catt pleaded guilty to being involved in the supply of a class A drug, namely heroin, at Lewes Crown Court.
He received a six-year prison sentence for the offence.
“We are pleased with the outcome of this case,” Detective Constable Glen Saunders said after the case. We have disrupted the supply of class A drugs in Eastbourne as a result of our collaborative efforts to investigate Catt.
“Catt had been dealing heroin for a long time and was supplying vulnerable users in town.”
“This result demonstrates our determination to apprehend drug dealers who cause so much harm to our communities.”