Drugs runner jailed after having loaded shotgun in Popley

Jack Oliveira, from Lambeth, was part of a county lines drug network operating out of a housing association property in Tewksbury Close, Popley.

The network, known as the G 423 line, operated around the town between April 2018 and May 2019.

Winchester Crown Court heard on Friday that at some point in early December 2018, drugs belonging to the line were stolen.

Just days later, Oliveira was stopped in Popley by police with a loaded and cocked sawn-off shotgun.

The sawn-off shotgun recovered by police.

Two police officers approached Oliveira and another unidentified man at around 9pm on Sunday, December 9 near to a property in Tewksbury Close belonging to Jeffrey Zani - who was sentenced to more than seven years in prison yesterday after being labelled the "key player on the ground" of the network.

The officers were part of a pro-active drugs unit and noticed a known drug user inside a dark maroon Skoda Octavia outside.

When they approached the pair, one of them threw the rucksack at the feet of the officers, before they both made off. Oliveira was caught and was found with a balaclava.

Additionally, a Basingstoke teenager was given a suspended prison sentence after admitting involvement in the G 423 line.

Dexta Newman-Parsons, of Quantock Close, Buckskin, was just 15 years old when he first became involved in the line.

18-year-old Buckskin resident Dexta Newman-Parsons (right, leaving court on Friday) was given a suspended sentence for his involvement.

Prosecutor Mark Ruffell said that his main involvement came in January 2019, after the network had a brief hiatus.

"In January the gang got disrupted because there was an arrest," he told Winchester Crown Court.

"On January 28, Dexta Newman-Parsons contacts [the line's kingpin].

"That seems to spearhead to get the G 423 drugs line up and running.

"Dexta Newman-Parsons is a Basingstoke resident, who put himself forward with others to run drugs for the G 423 drugs line.

"The evidence shows that he promoted other drugs lines that operated in Basingstoke.

"This is a young man who fully understands what he was doing."

A third man, Abdirahman Abdi, was sentenced to prison after admitting to operating a related drugs line in Hounslow, London.

Abdirahman Abdi, 21 of Biscoe Close, Hounslow, was sent to prison for 4 years and 4 months for his involvement in the Basingstoke and Hounslow drug lines.

The Jacob 654 network was set up in October 2018, according to the prosecutor, and at an address in Biscoe Close.

It was set up by the same person that started the Basingstoke conspiracy, and Abdi had a "significant role", involved in handling cash and collecting drugs.

He later moved to take part in the Basingstoke line, the court heard.

Summing up, Judge Andrew Barnett said that criminals involved in the distribution of class A drugs "commit serious offences".

"They wreak havoc in people's lives. They change lives, they ruin lives and very often they end lives.

"What you took part in was a distribution network of those drugs. That is why substantial prison sentences have been passed."

Oliveira was sentenced to five years in prison for possession of a prohibited weapon and three years for supplying class A drugs, which will be served concurrently.

Jack Oliveira, 21 of Lambeth, was sent to prison for five years.

Meanwhile, Abdi was given four years and four months in prison for being involved in both the Basingstoke and Hounslow drugs lines.

However, he spared 18-year-old Newman-Parsons from an immediate remand into prison, instead sentencing him to 20 months detention, suspended for two years.

He must complete 20 rehabilitation activity days, and 100 hours of unpaid work.

"Be warned, for the next two years you are very much under the watch of society," Judge Barnett told Newman-Parsons.