Shoaib Shafique, 22, of Clarence Road, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison at Huntingdon Crown Court on Wednesday (7 December) after pleading guilty to being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine, cocaine and heroin and possession of criminal property. He is the latest to be sentenced as part of Operation Hypernova, a crackdown on exploitation and illegal drugs. Officers raided his home in the early hours of 14 September and found a mobile phone in his bedroom linking him to class A drug dealing. Detective work revealed he had been travelling between Birmingham and Cambridgeshire between 4 November 2021 and 14 September dealing the drugs. Detective Constable Jacob Reeves, who investigated, said: “Through his movements and the text messages that had been sent from his phone we could prove Shafique was responsible for running a criminal enterprise across Cambridgeshire. “County lines bring misery to our communities in the form of drug dealing, exploitation and violence.” Operation Hypernova was carried out with support from the Metropolitan Police, British Transport Police and the Eastern Regional Specialist Operation Unit to identify individuals posing the greatest threat to the community. During the operation, 33 county lines were dismantled, with crack cocaine, cocaine, heroin and cannabis worth more than £600,000 seized along with hundreds of thousands of pounds in cash and assets including vehicles, jewellery and clothing. Several weapons were also seized.
