Basingstoke and Andover gang who dealt cocaine jailed

The enterprise operated over 12 months between December 2019 and December 2020, selling cocaine to users in the area.

The gang was caught following a surveillance operation by Hampshire police, Operation Tattoo, into their criminal activities.

Over the course of the investigation officers seized over £22,000 in cash.

They also observed some of those involved driving expensive cars and wearing designer clothing that provided evidence of their lavish lifestyles.

On Friday, December 2, five of the crime gang were jailed at Winchester Crown Court after pleading guilty for their parts in the operation by the Recorder of Winchester, Judge Angela Morris.

On September 18, 2020, Carla Porter, 24, of Braddock Court, Basingstoke, was the first to be arrested. Officers searched her mobile phones and “it was clear that she was a drug dealer sending bulk text messages to users for the supply of cocaine”.

The court heard that Porter ran her own busy drugs line under the direction of kingpin Darren Bryant.

The surveillance of three others – the most heavily involved – Bryant, Terry Hall and Saran Man Uam – ended in their arrest on December 14.

The court heard that all three were caught ‘red-handed’ cutting up a kilogramme of cocaine in the kitchen of Man Uam’s home.

Saran Man-Uam (Image: Hampshire Constabulary)

In police interview, Man Uam accepted that he was going to receive a third of the kilogramme and that it was 80 per cent pure.

“What that means is that your interest in the wholesale purchase of that cocaine was worth £13,333 and you would have achieved somewhere in the region of £33,333 to £41,666 from the sale of it at street level,” the judge said to Man Uam during his sentencing.

Man Uam’s address was used as a safe house for the operation, where deliveries would arrive, drugs were cut up and distributed to Hall and Bryant, before being distributed to dealers. On the floor next to the table was a set of scales.

Officers seized the scales and cocaine worth an estimated street value of £100,000 to £125,000.

They also located and seized a quantity of cash, a number of mobile phones and other items associated with drugs supply.

Analysis of the phones showed drugs marketing messages, photographs of Class A drugs and messages relating to the distribution of drugs. It also led to the identification of other individuals who were involved in selling Class A drugs, including Porter and Ratcliff.

Darren Bryant (Image: Hampshire Constabulary)

Two of the mobile phones used by Bryant and Hall were found to have been encrypted with software that provides the caller with a level of anonymity.

A fifth man David Ratcliff, 34, was arrested on January 7, 2021. Ratcliffe previously pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine over a period of April and August 2020. It was his role to answer the phone and deliver deals to users.

Those involved used encrypted phones and mobile apps to avoid detection, switching numbers and devices when it was found that a dealer had been arrested.

The judge said: “The mobile devices and applications allowed you to message each other using end-to-end encryption and operate in a clandestine manner without being intercepted. The operation was so slick that as soon as it became apparent one member of the group had been arrested, phone numbers would be rapidly changed and recontact via a new number established. when people who were part of this organisation were arrested.”

Ratcliff, whose address cannot be published for legal reasons, became involved due to his addiction but his involvement ended partly because of his mental health.

He was sentenced to two years in prison suspended for two years, along with 200 hours unpaid work and 25 rehabilitation days.

Porter previously pleaded guilty to one count of being concerned in the supply of cocaine and possession of cocaine with intent to supply.

She was also sentenced for an offence of dangerous driving. The court was told that she was driving at 50mph in a 30mph area in Basingstoke.

The judge said: “You drove erratically and out of control across the pathway of another vehicle whose right of way it was. The collision caused the victim’s car and yours to be written off by the insurance company. To make matters worse you walked off as soon as you could without any consideration for the welfare of the victim.”

Porter avoided immediate prison time and was sentenced to two years suspended for two years. She must also complete 200 hours unpaid work.

Former chef at Wagamama's in Basingstoke, Man Uam, 31, of The Moorings, Basingstoke, dealt directly to other drug users. In sentencing him to four years and eight months in prison, the judge said that he was a “trusted member of the team best described as someone in a management or operational function”.

Bryant, 39 and of Skippetts Gardens, pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs and was jailed for seven years and seven months.

Terry Hall (Image: Hampshire Constabulary)

Hall, 40 and of Dextra Court, Chapel Hill, Basingstoke, was sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine on the first day of a retrial in February this year.

The judge said to Hall: “I am satisfied your role was at the top of this organisation. There is little to distinguish you from Darren Bryant’s role.

“Both of you were in regular contact; both of you had access to and use of the sophisticated mobile phones which allowed you to avoid detection and both of you enjoyed cash-rich lifestyles on the back of this enterprise.”

Two other men Howard Jones, 35, of Dollery Way, Basingstoke, who pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs, and Raymond Phipps, 41, of Colyer Close, Basingstoke, who was found guilty after a 15 day trial of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, are due to be sentenced at Winchester Crown Court on December 19.