A 23-year-old man from Southall has been jailed for using two vulnerable missing teenagers to help him deal drugs in Derby.
Hussein Abdulkadir admitted to two offences of being concerned in the supply of heroin and crack cocaine in August and September 2022 was sent to prison for six years and seven months following a hearing at Derby Crown Court on 23 January 2023.
Abdulkadir had been contacting two boys aged 14 and 15 using mobile phones and directing them to deliver drugs and collect money in Derby.
The teenagers were arrested locally in Normanton, after they were found in possession of large amount of cash, Class A drugs, a machete and knuckle duster, by Derbyshire Police making enquiries into reports of a missing boy.
An investigation of their phones linked them to Abdulkadir, and his flat on Lady Margaret Road in Southall was searched by Derbyshire officers, working alongside the Metropolitan Police.
The court heard how Abdulkadir had been running what was known as the ‘Max line’, and selling drugs brought in from London to Derby and Leicester through the boys who were missing from their homes.
At the time of Abdulkadir’s arrest he had been on licence following a conviction in 2020, where he was handed a 45-month jail sentence for a similar county lines related offence in Surrey, and he was recalled to prison.
Temporary Detective Inspector Kane Martin, of Derbyshire Child Exploitation team, said: “The exploitation of children and young people is often a common feature in the way in which county lines gangs operate, and while the focus is often on our arrests and drug seizures a big part of our work is protecting those who are vulnerable. We welcome this result which means Abdulkadir is now off the streets and facing the consequences of his actions.”
Temporary DI Martin added: “Our work targeting County Lines dealers not only allows us to get illegal drugs off our streets and ensure offenders are brought to justice, but also allows us to safeguard those children or vulnerable people who are used for the gain of criminal gangs. We will continue to target this type of illegal activity across Derbyshire, with the aim of keeping drugs off our streets and our communities protected from the harm it can cause.”
