A crack squad from Cleveland Police’s Dedicated Drugs Unit and North East Regional Organised Crime Unit (NEROCU) have nailed five more drug offenders. One, Craig Turner, 24, just landed a hefty three-year jail term for cooking up cocaine sales in East Middlesbrough.
Operation Blackberry Cracks the Cocaine Ring
Turner, of Siddington Walk, was caught red-handed after police watched the gang deal cocaine on 10 separate occasions in early 2025. The police probe, dubbed Operation Blackberry, uncovered a drugs line handling thousands of calls in just two months.
Alongside Turner’s jail term, two other crew members got suspended sentences with community orders, while another awaits sentencing next March.
Sentences Handed Down
- Craig Turner, 24 – 3 years in prison for drug supply.
- Stephen Garbutt, 42, Seaham – 2 years suspended, 150 hours unpaid work, 25 days rehab for conspiracy to supply cocaine.
- Craig Turner, 45, Marton – 21 months suspended, 9 months rehab for conspiracy to supply cocaine.
- Luke Turner, 22, Guisborough – Sentencing set for March 2026 for supplying class A drugs.
Youth Exploited in Drug Supply Chain
Last November, 19-year-old Curtis Cremin from Hubbard Walk was jailed for four-and-a-half years. He used the drugs line to supply class A drugs and shockingly groomed teenage boys to hand over drugs to customers.
Also locked up was Louie Leadbeater, 18, from Cargo Fleet Lane, sentenced to three years. A previously protected 17-year-old involved in the gang has now turned 18 and been named.
Meanwhile, 19-year-old Laiton Hopkins from Cotswold Avenue was handed a two-year suspended sentence for cocaine supplying.
Cracking Down on Middlesbrough’s Crime Hotspots
This is the second gang taken down by Cleveland Police and NEROCU in the Project Orme area of East Middlesbrough, where authorities are cracking down hard under the Home Office’s Clear Hold Build initiative to clean up tough neighbourhoods.
