A DRUGS runner caught by police with a loaded shotgun in Popley has had his jail sentence extended.

Jack Oliveira was a member of the 'G' county lines network that operated across Basingstoke in 2018. He was sentenced to five years in prison earlier this year - but this has been found to be unduly lenient by the Court of Appeal.

Two police officers approached Oliveira and another unidentified man at around 9pm on Sunday, December 9, 2018 near to a housing association property in Tewksbury Close used as the network's base of operations.

Basingstoke Gazette:

Jack Oliveira, 21 of Lambeth, was sentenced to five years in prison after being in possession of a sawn-off shotgun in Popley', alt='Jack Oliveira, 21 of Lambeth, was sentenced to five years in prison after being in possession of a sawn-off shotgun in Popley.

One of the suspects threw the rucksack at the feet of the officers, before they both made off. Oliveira was caught and was found with a balaclava, as well as the sawn-off shotgun.

The incident came just days after drugs belonging to the line was stolen, Winchester Crown Court heard back in August.

Oliveira operated for a two-week period in November 2018. He sent messages indicating that he sold between £1000 and £2000 of class A drugs per day during his involvement.

READ MORE: Eight men sentenced for involvement in Popley drug network

Following the sentencing by Judge Andrew Barnett, the Solicitor General, Michael Ellis QC MP, referred the case to the Court of Appeal, which has increased his sentence to six years imprisonment.

Speaking after the hearing, the Solicitor General said: "Crack cocaine and heroin are dangerous substances which ruin lives. Oliveira supplied these substances on a large scale while carrying an illegal weapon and gave no thought to the consequences of his actions."

READ MORE: Three jailed after setting up county lines drug network in housing association property in Popley

In August, whilst sentencing the eight individuals involved in the conspiracy, 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."