A drugs dealer from Brighton has been found guilty over his key role in a £12.5 million heroin gang after a seven-week trial at Hove Crown Court.
Lea Elton Smith, 46, of Natal Road, Brighton, was found guilty of conspiracy to supply heroin.
He was one of 13 people to be charged after a series of raids on Tuesday 24 March 2015 at nine addresses in Brighton, one in Eastbourne and one in Liverpool.
Detectives from the Organised Crime Investigation Team in Brighton led a hundred police officers and staff as they executed the search warrants.
They found more than 13lb (6kg) of heroin mixed with cutting agent, with an estimated street value of £600,000 as well as £50,000 cash. Three safes were also found.
Sussex Police said: “During the investigation, the mastermind behind the operation, 49-year-old Thomas Wynn, from Liverpool, failed to answer police bail. His body was later found in Dubai.
“Of the remaining suspects, seven previously admitted their guilt, and at the start of this trial John Paul Swann, the stepson of Thomas Wynn, also pleaded guilty to his role within the conspiracy.
“The court heard that, over the period of the indictment, couriers working for the gang made over 50 trips between Liverpool and Sussex, bringing multiple kilos of drugs south for onward supply.”
Detective Inspector Julie Wakeford said: “This case resulted from a long-term covert investigation into an organised crime network, supplying heroin from Liverpool on to the streets of Brighton, Hove and Eastbourne.
“This investigation is part of our continuing work aimed at disrupting the supply of drugs into Brighton.”
Although Lea Smith was convicted at the end of his retrial, Ronald Edwards, 50, of Chiddingly Close, Whitehawk, and Sean Davidson, 49, of Downhill View, Woodingdean, were found not guilty of conspiracy to supply heroin.
The jury was unable to reach a verdict in respect of Louis Makai, 45, of Langridge Drive, Portslade.
John Paul Swann, 33, of Colin Drive, Liverpool, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply heroin at the start of the retrial on Monday 16 January.
Ian Gerald Frost, 48, of St Michael’s Place, Brighton, was found not guilty of conspiracy to supply heroin but admitted charges of dangerous driving and having cannabis from Thursday 21 August 2014.
Kingsley Walls, 44, of Langley Crescent, Woodingdean, had also previously pleaded guilty to his role in the gang but died of natural causes on Friday 23 December before he could be sentenced.
Lee Mack, 50, of Sheepcote Valley Caravan Park, Brighton, Andrew Antoniou, 58, of Dorset Mews, Brighton, Neil Ballard, 48, of Hangleton Road, Hove, Paul Shannon, 60, of North Street, Eastbourne, and Arthur Jones, 55, Downs Avenue, Eastbourne, all admit conspiring to supply heroin.
Julie Coltherd, 43, of Langley Crescent, Woodingdean, pleaded guilty to money laundering.
Judge Anthony Niblett told Smith: “You have been convicted on very clear evidence of conspiracy to supply heroin into this city.
“We are fortunate in this city that we have police officers of such diligence and professionalism that they can disrupt the enterprise that you are an integral part of.
“You were linked in the closest possible way to Tommy Wynn and you were controlling the enterprise in this city.”
Sentencing will take place at a later date.
“the mastermind behind the operation, 49-year-old Thomas Wynn, from Liverpool, failed to answer police bail. His body was later found in Dubai.”
Says it all – Pakistani muslim drug dealers delivering drugs to gangs in UK expect payment = the reward for failure is death – the islamic muslim way – bet he was not greeted by 72 virgins upon his arrival in paradise- because there is no allah either.