Pair jailed for manning county lines graft phones

Two men who ran a "high harm" county line Class A drugs operation which supplied crack cocaine and heroin have been jailed.

Justin Sebastian and Alexander Nyarashe, both 24, were convicted of running the "JJ Line" from the L7 postcode area of Liverpool.

Both admitted several counts of being concerned in the supply of Class A and B drugs, with Sebastian sentenced to nine years, and Nyarashe a total of five years.

The charges came under Merseyside Police's Operation Toxic, which is part of the Project Medusa initiative set up to tackle suspected drug dealing and child exploitation across the country.

The JJ line was responsible for supplying crack cocaine and heroin into Chester between January 2024 and June 2024, Merseyside Police said.

On 22 February 2024, Sebastian fled from police officers in the L7 area and dumped two mobile phones.

The phones were later linked to him. One of them was identified as the JJ graft line into Chester, and the second was found to be a number on which cannabis and cocaine were dealt.

Sebastian was later identified as the controller of the JJ graft devices and was arrested and remanded into custody.

Despite this, the JJ line continued to operate under the direction of Nyarashe.

On 1 July 2024, Nyarashe was arrested at a house in Liverpool, where heroin and crack cocaine were also found.

Det Insp Gary Stratton said: "County Lines gangs have no regard for the young, vulnerable people they coerce into running drugs across the country.

"We will relentlessly target those crime groups who cowardly exploit vulnerable people in our communities."

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