A man has been jailed after being found guilty of drug offences in Bury St Edmunds.
On Tuesday 9 March Joshua Campos, aged 20 and from Ashley Road in Thornton Heath in London was convicted at Swindon Crown Court after a trial for being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs. He was sentenced to four years in prison.
In April 2020 a Misuse of Drugs Act warrant was conducted by Suffolk’s Serious Crime Disruption Team on an address in Bury St. Edmunds with a phone seized as part of the warrant. Investigations established the phone contained messages related to advertising the sale of Class A drugs. Campos was arrested September 2020 and subsequently charged with two counts of being concerned in the supply of drugs in Bury St Edmunds, namely crack cocaine and heroin. between 1 December 2019 and 16 March 2020.
In a separate case, Campos was also charged in relation to drug offences in north Somerset. In September 2020 he was charged with two counts of possession of drugs, namely crack cocaine and diamorphine, with intent to supply. These offences took place in Weston-super-Mare on 4 May 2020.
The activity to arrest Campos formed part of Operation Orochi, led by the Metropolitan Police. This has been in place in Suffolk since February 2020. It focuses on analysing the data of mobile phones used to buy and sell crack cocaine and heroin by dealers and controllers. Officers from the team in Suffolk will share this intelligence with a dedicated team at the Met, who will then investigate in order to identify the line controller and their location.
The SCDT core aim is to disrupt serious and organised gangs whose criminal activity focuses on issues such as drug supply and harmful personal acquisitive crime such as robbery/burglary. The team develop the relevant information and intelligence, conduct enforcement activity and then provide an officer who will build the case and see the investigation through to trial.
DC Dave Murphy from the SCDT said: “From the examination of the call data obtained it was established that Campos was the phone line controller.
“Protecting our neighbourhoods from drug related activity is vital and the force will continue to combat the scourge of drugs in our communities. Those who choose to involve themselves in illegal activity involving drugs and related crime, can expect very firm action to be taken against them. The message is simple, if you deal in drugs the next knock on the door could be from the police.”
PC Charlie Gates, investigating officer at Avon and Somerset Police, said: “Our investigation stemmed from a proactive vehicle stop in May 2020, which led to a warrant being carried out at a property in Worle, north Somerset, where Joshua Campos was located and 104 wraps of class A drugs were recovered.
“This led to a joint investigation with the Met Police and Suffolk Police to uncover the full extent of Campos’ offending.
“Campos paid no regard to the harm and impact he was causing in our communities and his sole motivation was to profit from his illegal activities. We hope this sends out a strong message out to people that county line drug-dealing will not be tolerated.”
Detective Chief Inspector Ben Clark who oversees the Op Orochi operation for Suffolk said: “This is a great example of working closely with another force and a clear demonstration that we will pursue such individuals who cause harm to our communities. I also pay tribute to our Serious Crime Disruption Team who are dedicated in bringing criminals to justice and keeping people safe and also offer my gratitude and appreciation to the officers from Avon & Somerset who were also key to securing this conviction.”
If you suspect drug dealing is taking place in your area or see anything suspicious or out of place, please tell us. You don’t have to be certain, just concerned. Call police on 101, or alternatively you can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers to report anonymously – either online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org or by calling 0800 555 111.