A Hove teenager was jailed after being caught running a “county line” during a specialist police operation.
Jake de Moor, 19, of Sackville Road, Hove, was found to be the controller of the “Zeus” line which had been operating in Brighton and Hove since 2018.
He was one of 64 people held since the start of a crackdown on “county line” drug dealing in Brighton and Hove, known as Operation Extreme, with 24 suspects charged and in custody.
He was caught with a dealing phone and its number was the same as that found on the mobile phones of drug death victims and known drug users.
Inquiries by the Metropolitan Police’s Op Orochi team linked the number to De Moor, who was well-known to officers for drug-related activity over several years.
On Thursday 25 November 2021, De Moor was stopped and searched after being observed by officers and found with a mobile phone which was confirmed to be the “Zeus” line.
After he was stopped, Sussex Police said that he admitted having just swallowed nine wraps of class A drugs.
A search of his home found 73 wraps of crack cocaine, 41 wraps of heroin, £1,045 in cash and some cannabis.
He pleaded guilty to having heroin and crack cocaine with intent to supply, money laundering and having cannabis.
De Moor was sentenced to two years and four months in prison.
The crackdown – a police operation called Op Extreme – targeted “county lines”, the name given to the type of set up used by a significant number of drug dealing gangs.
Sussex Police said: “County lines drug dealing is when criminals from large urban areas deal drugs in smaller areas across county borders, such as Brighton.
“Drug users contact them through specific phone numbers – known as deal lines.”
Dealers often also send out text messages to all the contacts on a deal line’s phone when they have fresh supplies or want to “push” or market their stocks.
Sussex Police added: “Of the 20 lines disrupted through Op Extreme, 15 were found to be operating from within London.”
Detectives from the Brighton and Hove Community Investigations Team worked closely with the Metropolian Police county lines operation – Op Orochi – to share intelligence and trace drug lines to their source.
The Community Investigations Team also worked alongside colleagues from the joint Surrey and Sussex operation known as Op Centurion.
Sussex Police said: “County lines dealing is typified by violence and the exploitation of vulnerable people and children which makes safeguarding those at risk a priority.”
Six premises were identified as at risk from “cuckooing” – the name for the way that drug dealers exploit vulnerable people by using their homes as a base for their operations.
This typically involves violence, intimidation and exploitation of vulnerabilities such as an addiction to drugs.
Police said that they were now carrying out regular checks at the six properties identified.
Can we have an end to this silly phrase “county line”. These people are drug-runners.
Great work – well done to the Police; hope this gets us closer to the adults in control of the young people running drugs in our city.
Out in a year to pick up where he left off? A depressing prospect.
Which is why the government should spend more on rehabilitation programs & helping young black kids to have better opportunities. I knew this lad when he was younger & he was a shy, sweet polite boy & a very talented footballer. He is the cannon fodder for the real criminals, it is heart breaking to see this happen. We have been fighting the war on drugs for around a 100 years & what progress have we made. Absolute zero, legalise drugs, control them & stop criminalising children & young black males.