Man jailed after supplying Class B drugs into prison
It follows an investigation by the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit and a number of forces around the country
A man who pleaded guilty to supplying the controlled drug spice into prison has been jailed.
27-year-old Dennis Obasi, of no fixed abode, has been sentenced to 11 years and seven months in prison after his guilty plea, convicted with conspiracy to supply controlled drug spice into prisons, being concerned in the supply of heroin and cocaine, and possession of criminal property.
It follows a large-scale investigation across multiple forces - led by the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SWROCU) and the Metropolitan Police Service supported by UK Border Force, HMPPS, Avon and Somerset Police, Wiltshire Police and Thames Valley Police.
It's reported by the SWROCU he conspired with his then-girlfriend to smuggle drugs into HMP Peterborough (during his time as an inmate and after being released) and HMP Bristol, using fake stamps to send spice-coated bogus legal letters and packages with concealed drugs inside to prisoners.
They also are said to have used prison visitors to help smuggle the drugs inside the prisons.
His former girlfriend - 31-year-old Emily MacArthur, previously of Charlotte Square, Trowbridge, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply spice into prisons, as well as importation of class A drugs.
However, she has not yet been sentenced alongside Dennis Obasi after failing to appear at Swindon Crown Court on September 29 this year.
She is currently wanted by police.
This has been a years-long investigation - which started at the border, where officials from the UK's Border Force stopped three separate parcels from entering the country.
They were all sent from Jamaica and addressed to Emily MacArthur to separate addresses in Frome and Bristol - and were all discovered to contain the drug cocaine.
Following a warrant in a flat in Trowbridge in February 2020, officers from the SWROCU and the Metropolitan Police arrested the pair - where evidence later showed the flat was being used to produce spice.
Inside the flat, £50,000 worth of spice powder, 116 sheets of paper soaked in spice, a box containing six bottles of acetone, and 1.86kg of marshmallow leaves were seized.
The sheets of paper alone are reported to have an 'in-prison' value of £48,000.
They also found seven fake stamps, piles of envelopes and further letters, all of which were seized by the forces.
Later, it was found nearly 23,000 messages were shared between Obasi and MacArthur - which the SWROCU say 'many of which focused on how to successfully smuggle drugs into prisons'.
Police Constable Alex Furniss from the Metropolitan Police Service, said: “The messages, seen as part of the investigation, showed that Obasi would supply MacArthur with names and prisoner numbers for those who wanted to receive or were prepared to accept spice-infused letters.
“The messages also showed lengthy exchanges about the methods being used by MacArthur to make spice, plus their desire to make large profits from their enterprises, including working more closely together once Obasi was released from prison.”
Less than a month after Obasi’s release, he became involved in county lines drug dealing, recruiting vulnerable people to act as drugs runners from a flat in Bath Road, Bristol and later in Abingdon, Oxfordshire.
The force say more than £5,000 worth of crack cocaine and heroin and £6,000 in cash was seized as part of that investigation.
In Abingdon, officers discovered a ‘cuckooed’ address – where the home of a vulnerable drug user is taken over by drug dealers – and two boys aged 14 and 17 working as drugs runners.
Obasi had purchased a train ticket from London to Bristol for one of the boys the previous day.
DCI Charlotte Tucker from SWROCU said: “Today’s sentence reflects a huge amount of work by our teams and the Met, supported by our partners, to bring Obasi to justice.
“His offending shows his willingness to exploit anyone, in any way, in pursuit of his own profits, regardless of the exploitation and harm that has caused. The guilty pleas are testament to the strength of evidence we collectively gathered against him.
“Emily MacArthur has also pleaded guilty to conspiring with Obasi to supply spice into prisons as well as importing cocaine. The messages between them show their shared drive to make money. She, too, needs to be brought before the court and I hope that people will come forward with information to help us do just that.”
Prisons and Probation Minister Damian Hinds said: “This sentencing highlights the tireless commitment of our hardworking prison staff and police to cracking down on drugs behind bars.
“Drugs such as spice make it more difficult for us to rehabilitate offenders and cut crime which is why we have invested £125 million to keep our prisons secure and drugs out.”