County Line drug gang jailed for 'flooding' Scarborough with heroin and cocaine
They were operating from the West Midlands
A group of county lines drug dealers from the West Midlands - operating under the name ‘Ghost’ - have been sentenced for flooding Scarborough with heroin and crack cocaine between August 2017 and January 2018.
They came to the attention of Scarborough Police during the early hours of 16 January 2018 when a vehicle was stopped in Scarborough.
Weapons, mobile phones and digital scales with traces of heroin and crack cocaine were recovered from the vehicle.
What followed was a complex investigation into the group.
The ringleader of the conspiracy was Riccardo Nathaniel Donalds, 36, of Oscott Road, Birmingham.
He failed to appear at York Crown Court for sentencing and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.
Mobile phone analysis, call data analysis and ANPR evidence, showed the group were working together - to sell heroin and crack cocaine in Scarborough using several deal lines.
Financial investigations showed thousands of pounds passing through bank accounts.
CCTV also captured other group members paying money into Donalds’ bank account in Scarborough, while Donalds waited to withdraw the cash in the West Midlands.
All were subsequently charged in January 2023 with conspiring together to supply heroin and crack cocaine in Scarborough.
Detective Constable Darrel Temple from Scarborough and Ryedale CID, who led the investigation, said:
“Referring to their own county lines drugs conspiracy as ‘Ghost’, the group thought they could operate with impunity between the West Midlands and Scarborough.
“Unfortunately for them, North Yorkshire Police ‘ain’t afraid of no ghost’ or any other drug dealers for that matter, and we set about a complex investigation to dismantle the gang.
“It has taken the best part of six years to secure justice against the offenders. This effort shows our determination to rid our community of the harms caused by drug-related crime.”