A Harrogate man has been sentenced to four years in prison after police officers stopped him during a drug deal on Knaresborough Road.
Ben Michael Hargreaves, of Dragon Avenue, was sentenced at York Crown Court yesterday for possession with intent to supply Class A drugs and being concerned in the supply of Class B drugs.
The 42-year-old’s sentencing comes after an 18-month investigation by North Yorkshire Police’s Harrogate Operation Expedite Team.
On September 9, 2020, officers spotted a man leaving a vehicle on Knaresborough Road in Harrogate and suspected he had purchased drugs from the driver.
The man was found to be in possession of cocaine. Officers then stopped the vehicle and detained the driver, Hargreaves.
Officers found a quantity of cocaine in the car and following a roadside drug wipe, Hargreaves tested positive for cannabis. He was arrested for driving under the influence of drugs and supplying drugs.
At his home address police found more cocaine and digital microscales. His phone was also examined which revealed a large amount of drugs related content and showed him organising the importation of drugs from the United States, as well as discussions about evading customs and border control.
The drugs seized from Hargreaves were valued at around £1,500 if sold at street level. As well as the four-year sentence he was disqualified from driving for five years.
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Detective Sergeant Peachman, from the North Yorkshire Police Harrogate Operation Expedite Team, said:
Police take down ‘county lines’ drug deal phone line advertising to Harrogate addicts“Hargreaves has received a significant custodial sentence at York Crown Court and this sentence reflects the severity of his offending and the extent of it.
“He was found to be supplying a Class A drug on the streets of Harrogate and the impact of this offence should not be underestimated. The knock-on effects of increased criminality to fund drug addictions creates misery for those trapped in the cycle of addiction and those people who live in their communities. Hargreaves was financially profiting from that misery and exploiting the addictions of his customers for his own greed.”
Police in Harrogate have taken down a “county lines” phone line used to advertise drugs to local addicts.
Drug dealers in Leeds and Bradford used the line to advertise crack cocaine and cocaine for sale in Harrogate. It was known as the “Danny” line.
Phone lines like the “Danny” line allow out-of-town heroin and cocaine dealers to send mass text messages promoting their drugs for sale, and when and where they can be picked up.
When a mobile phone is seized from suspected drug dealers, numbers and associated contacts can be reactivated within hours. However, taking down the whole line and removing the number from circulation permanently means drug dealers can no longer advertise.
The line was taken down after officers applied to Newcastle County Court for a Drug Dealing Telecommunications Restriction Order (DDTRO) on Wednesday.
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County lines is where drug dealers from urban areas exploit vulnerable people, including children, and force them to deal drugs in smaller towns and cities.
Inspector Penny Taylor of North Yorkshire Police, said:
“These orders are a helpful disruption tactic to interrupt the flow of drugs. The orders allow us to take down the line and remove the phone number from circulation permanently, meaning it cannot ever be reactivated on another device, depriving the dealers of the key means to sell their drugs.
“Drug dealing and the associated exploitation of vulnerable people is a foremost priority for North Yorkshire Police and we will continue to target dealers who prey on the vulnerable and cause misery in our communities.”
The action is part of a wider Harrogate-based investigation into drugs supply known as Operation Network. Since August 2020, Operation Network has seen 18 people arrested.