A man has been jailed after using a child to help run a County Lines drug supply from Bath to Chippenham.
Curtis Harrison, 25, of Fullers Way, Bath, was jailed for four years and eight months in a hearing at Swindon Crown Court yesterday (28/09) after being convicted of being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs.
The result follows a Wiltshire Police investigation into a Class A drugs line named Junior, which was running between August 2022 and March 2023.
Enquiries established that Harrison was the main line holder in the County Line supply of heroin and crack cocaine, exploiting a young and vulnerable person to facilitate the supply of the Class A drugs.
The Junior line first came to Police notice when a drug user's phone was downloaded as part of a separate investigation.
This revealed the existence of the line, and over the next few months Harrison attempted to frustrate the investigation and evade detection by repeatedly changing numbers.
Despite this, officers were able to connect him with the line through data analysis and CCTV work.
It was also established during the investigation that Harrison would send bulk messages from phones and then instruct a child where to go and what the order would be.
On March 1, Harrison was arrested after initially trying to flee from officers.
PC Ashton Schorah of the Tackling Serious Youth and Gang Violence Unit said: “Harrison has played a significant role in the cross border supply of Class A drugs and has been exploiting a child to deliver the drugs to users.
“Harrison has arranged moving this child into Wiltshire to supply the drugs, and he has deliberately attempted to conceal evidence to frustrate our investigation into him.
“Despite this, officers were able to successfully link him to the offences and I’m pleased he will now be behind bars for the next few years.
“There is no place in Swindon or Wiltshire for illegal drugs and we are determined to root out County Lines Class A drugs supplies into our county.”
If you have any information on drug use in your area, please report it to us on 101 or via our website.
Alternatively, you can report it to Crime Stoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.
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