Nine month covert operation leads to five people jailed for conspiracy to supply class A drugs

By Claire Dukes - 3 August 2018

Crime

Five people have today been sentenced to a total of nearly 25 years imprisonment following a covert operation by our Specialist Crime Department.

The operation saw officers undertake surveillance on a group of people who all had connections to high level criminals from London.

The investigation was protracted and complex due to tactics used by those involved.

Today, at Swindon Crown Court, the following pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs and were sentenced as follows:

- Lewis Gordon, aged 26, of Baydon Close, Swindon, sentenced to seven years imprisonment
- Mohammed Gangat, aged 56, of Evington Lane, Leicester, sentenced to six-and-a-half years imprisonment
- Benjamin Buck, aged 29, of Frobisher Drive, Swindon, sentenced to six years imprisonment
- Dylan Crane, aged 19, of Baydon Close, sentenced to three years imprisonment
- Leah Fernandes,  aged 20, of Thames Avenue, Swindon, sentenced to two years and three months imprisonment

Detective Inspector Mark Wilkinson said: “The operation was extremely complex and lasted nine months, but finally came to a conclusion in September 2017. During August 2017, the operational team witnessed the key players frequently travelling to London and exchanging large bags with people who were also under surveillance by the Metropolitan Police. 

“In September, the team witnessed a further exchange of £24,010 cash hidden in a washing powder box for a kilo of cocaine, with a purity of between 74 per cent and a street value of £80,000.

“The operation itself, although extremely multifaceted, has been a huge success in disrupting the trafficking of illegal drugs into our communities."

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