Brighton Drug Gang Busted: Nine Jailed in Major County Lines Crackdown
Sussex Police have smashed a major county-lines drug gang operating in Brighton and Hove. After a two-year stint, nine conspirators were locked up for their roles in trafficking heroin and crack cocaine, thanks to a relentless investigation by the city’s Community Investigations Team (CIT).
46 Years Behind Bars for Six, Three Jailed Earlier
At Lewes Crown Court on October 28, six defendants were hit with a collective 46 years and nine months in prison for conspiracy to supply. They joined three others who had already been jailed in 2020 for over seven years. The gang was part of the notorious HECTOR line, first flagged up in 2018 when police linked a mobile phone to substantial Class A drug deals.
County Lines Explained: From London to Brighton
County lines is the grim trade of pushing drugs from big cities like London into smaller towns such as Brighton through mobile phone coordination. Usually, top gang bosses stay remote in urban hubs. But the HECTOR line flipped the script, with senior players actually based in Sussex. This gave cops a better chance to dismantle the gang at every level.
- Young, vulnerable people were groomed and forced into street-level dealing under threat and violence.
- Higher-ups kept tight control over the cash flow while exploiting those on the ground.
- The gang switched phone lines four times in four years to avoid detection.
- Five people linked to these phones tragically died from drug-related causes between 2018 and 2020.
Meet the Convicted: Lengthy Sentences for Heroin and Crack Supply
- Ahmed Issa, 27 (Plaistow) – 9 years
- Abdulqafar Farah, 26 (Tower Hamlets) – 8 years
- 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; assets seized
- Hussen Dualeh, 30 (Billericay) – 3 years 4 months; assets seized
- Kieran Rice, 19 (Southall) – 8 years in young offenders’ institute
Detective Inspector Issues Stark Warning
“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.” – Detective Inspector Dee Wells, Brighton and Hove CIT
The joint operation with the Metropolitan Police saw dozens arrested and huge drug hauls confiscated. The message is clear: county lines dealers beware – Sussex Police are cracking down hard.
