Three men involved in a drug gang were sentenced to 21 years in prison after smuggling Class A drugs throughout Gloucestershire
Yesterday, three men were sentenced in Crown Court after an investigation found them guilty of being part of a drug gang that moved over half a million pounds worth of cocaine and marijuana into Gloucestershire.
Last year, Gloucestershire Police Constabulary received a packet of information via encrypted mobile phones that provided proof of cocaine and marijuana getting moved throughout Gloucestershire. The Constabulary garnered the information that two people were found between Stroud and Cirencester, sending pictures of the drugs, discussing prices and how the deliveries should be made.
The suspects, Harry Blackwell Smith and Charles Bryan would meet up with John Jose, at their preferred meeting spot of Giddynap Lane. The two trusted the encryption that would later be their downfall as the phones listed every single interaction between each other, making the drugs bust easy to locate.
Surveillance Officer ‘D’ said that, “We as a surveillance team were here watching every move, they were making without them knowing that we were here”. Even though the location that Charles and Harry chose was completely secluded, the constabulary wanted to carry out this investigation in a way that would make it easy to make a strong prosecution against the two.
So, how did they do it?
Well, John Jose would travel up in his van and wait for Charles Bryan to meet him. Charles would get rid of the bag that had the drugs in and then transfer them to a picnic bag, after, Jose would drop Charles back to his home back in Merretts Hill. They thought they were fooling law enforcement, however, with the encryption the constabulary was always 10 steps in front.
What they didn’t know is everything was being recorded and retained so that when the time had come to arrest them, proving that they did the crime would have been easier. When they were finally arrested, the police were able to locate a stash of money and cocaine that was buried in the ground.
Finding that stash, Detective Inspector Matt Phillips said “It was a very good piece of work. It was a very methodical approach by the surveillance team”.
The drugs and cash that were found in the stash were passed onto the forensic department, they found fingerprints on the notes that matched Harry Blackwell Smith and Charles Bryan. The two were interviewed, charged and remanded in custody. The courier, John Jose was also charged and convicted, making the investigation a success.
Matt Phillips concluded the report by saying, “I hope this shows when you choose to deal drugs you run the very real risk of going to prison”.
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