Brighton County-Line Gang Busted: Nine Jailed in Major Drug Sting
Sussex Police have smashed a notorious county-line drug gang in Brighton and Hove, locking up nine members after a two-year crackdown by the city’s Community Investigation Team. The gang was caught in a sprawling conspiracy involving heroin and crack cocaine supply.
Big Sentences Handed Down at Lewes Crown Court
On October 28, six more gang members were sentenced at Lewes Crown Court to a combined 46 years and nine months behind bars. They join three others already jailed in 2020 for over seven years for the same conspiracy charges.
The HECTOR line – a dangerous channel for pumping heroin and crack cocaine into Brighton – was first detected in August 2018 when a mobile phone tied to drug deals was found. County lines usually operate from big cities like London pushing drugs into smaller towns, using mobile phones to arrange deals.
Unique Sussex-Based Operation Offers Police Upper Hand
Unlike typical county lines controlled remotely by senior gang bosses in cities, the HECTOR line’s top players operated right within Sussex. This gave police a rare chance to hit all levels of the gang hierarchy. The group preyed on vulnerable youngsters using violence and intimidation, forcing them to run street-level drug deals while leaders stayed in charge of the cash.
Massive Police Operation Nets Arrests and Seizures
Two years of covert surveillance, arrests, and intelligence work, backed by the Metropolitan Police, led to dozens of arrests and tons of drugs seized, crippling the gang’s network. The gang constantly changed phone numbers over four years. Some were linked to five people who died from drug-related causes between 2018 and 2020.
The investigation built a solid case charging senior, mid-rank, and street dealers with conspiracy to supply heroin and crack cocaine — a crime showing deep-rooted organised drug trading, beyond mere possession.
Jail Time for the Gangsters
- Ahmed Issa, 27 (Plaistow) – 9 years for conspiracy to supply heroin and crack.
- Abdulqafar Farah, 26 (Tower Hamlets) – 8 years for conspiracy to supply heroin and crack.
- Abdijabar Ahmad, 23 (Tower Hamlets) – 5 years 3 months.
- Anice Ali Nur, 21 (Tower Hamlets) – 4 years 6 months.
- Mustafa Ahmed, 25 (No fixed address) – 10 years.
- Tamer Elsherif, 50 (Worthing) – 10 years.
- Hamse Musa, 26 (Tower Hamlets) – 3 years (jailed Feb 2020) plus assets seized.
- Hussen Dualeh, 30 (Billericay) – 3 years 4 months (jailed Feb 2020) plus assets seized.
- Kieran Rice, 19 (Southall) – 8 years in young offenders’ institute, also charged with racially aggravated public order offence.
Police Praise Operation as a Huge Community Win
Detective Inspector Dee Wells, of Brighton and Hove’s Community Investigations Team, said: “This was a long, complex investigation into an organised crime gang responsible for spreading untold devastation among our communities… The supply of illegal drugs is hugely destructive, going hand in hand with violence and exploitation, and underpinning all manner of wider criminality. As harmful substances, they also decimate the lives of their users.”
The bust sends a clear message: Sussex police will aggressively target county-line gangs wrecking local lives.
