A Croydon musician has been sentenced to four and a half years in prison for conspiracy to supply heroin and crack cocaine in a so called ‘county lines’ operation.

Cassiel Wuta-Ofei, 27 had been part of a drug dealing operation, supplying class-A drugs to Basingstoke in Hampshire. He was sentenced on the same day as his associate Malki Martin of Streatham, who also received four and a half years in prison.

Hampshire police stopped the two men in March 2018, where officers found a mobile phone attributed to a prolific county line dealing operation known as ‘Ozzy.’

Wuta-Ofei, of Priory Cresent, Croydon, was found guilty in October for his involvement in the drug supply chain between February and May 2018. As well as their custodial sentences Wuta-Ofei and Martin, of Fortrose Gardens, were handed a Criminal Behaviours Order preventing either man from possessing unregistered SIM cards for eight years.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Jamie Grocott, said: “County line operators ruthlessly exploit the most harmful addictions for profit, relying on a network of vulnerable individuals and a culture of violence and intimidation. The sentences passed today reflect the enormous harm such offences cause to communities across the UK.”

“Both Wuta-Ofei and Martin are young men. I hope they use the time in prison to reflect on the gravity of their crimes and return to society ready to make a positive contribution.”

Operation Trident detectives from Specialist Crime used Automatic Number Plate Recognition activations and information collected from police stops to discover that the pair made repeated journeys between Lambeth and Basingstoke. Both men were subsequently found to be principal line-holders for the Ozzy network.

Martin was also found with sim cards attributed to county lines ‘Baz’ and ‘Joey’.

The court was also told that Wuta-Ofei also had previous possession with intent to supply convictions from 2013.