County lines: Crack cocaine and heroin dealer jailed for trafficking boys to Hastings

Ajay Stephens, 21, was the holder of the ‘P’ line crime network - running drugs from London to the town. He got unsuspecting women to book and pay for accommodation in Hastings for two vulnerable boys, aged 15 and 17, to travel from their care home in Manchester to deal his crack cocaine and heroin. He was sentenced at Inner London Crown Court yesterday (November 11).

The Metropolitan Police believe it is only the second time a jury has convicted someone of modern slavery offences in relation to county lines under the Modern Slavery Act 2015. County lines is the name given to drug dealing where criminals use phone lines to move and supply drugs, usually from cities into smaller towns and rural areas across the country. The gangs exploit vulnerable people, including children and those with mental health or addiction issues, by recruiting them to distribute drugs.

Stephens, from Parry Road, Croydon, was found guilty following a trial in May of two counts of arranging and facilitating the movement of people. He pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing in September 2020 to two counts of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.

The investigation began on March 9 2020 when detectives from the Met received intelligence from Sussex Police about the ‘P’ line. Enquiries, including mobile phone analysis, identified Stephens as the line-holder and also revealed that he was exploiting two children by getting them to travel from Manchester to London to collect the drugs before travelling to Hastings where they would stay to deal to Stephens’ customers.

Stephens was arrested on March 30 2020. After the boys were safeguarded, police continued to build evidence against Stephens. Detectives were able to prove that Stephens had been dealing Class A drugs in Hastings since April 2019, which he admitted. The court heard that approximately 1.45kg of drugs were sold through the ‘P’ line between November 2019 and March 2020, generating a significant amount of money for Stephens.

Detectives also found that when Stephens was out of the country, his step-brother Amun’Ra Teko, 19, of Loughborough Estate, Lambeth, and his half-brother Shaquille Boreland, 26, of no fixed address, ran the line in his absence.