Saleha Saed, 21, was aged just 18 and 19 when she ran the so-called Fat Boy line in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.
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Norwich Crown Court heard how the gang had brought three kilograms of street heroin and crack cocaine from London to sell on the streets of the seaside town.
As a teenager, Saed controlled other gang members, including her boyfriend Nathan Si, 21, and Tremayne Ndikumana, 20, who were jailed at an earlier hearing.
She booked hotel rooms from where the drugs were prepared and also recruited “youngsters” to “do her bidding for her”.
Si operated as a “babysitter” for the drugs, packing them and looking after them, while Ndikumana was the holder of the phone line under Saed’s instruction.
You’re deluding yourself that the line is yours when it is truly mine.
Saleha Saed
The court was told how Saed had taken over running of the line from another former boyfriend who was much older.
Criminal underworld
Prosecutor Matthew Edwards said texts from phones seized when she was arrested in June 2022 showed she had become central to the operation and was in charge.
One message sent to her ex-partner boasted to him: “You’re deluding yourself that the line is yours when it is truly mine.”
Other messages included disagreements over how lower members of the operation were selling drugs and criticism of the prices being charged by a street seller known by the nickname “Tiny”.
Police also discovered messages linking her to human trafficking with one talking about “bringing in one of the young ones”.
The court was told how Saed, from east London, had expected to make a considerable amount of money from the operation of the line.
She previously pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply class A drugs between July 2021 and June 2022.
Saed also admitted an offence of arranging or facilitating the travel of another person with a view to exploitation.
WHAT IS COUNTY LINES?
COUNTY lines is a sinister drug running technique that gangs are using to sell drugs in other towns by exploiting kids and vulnerable adults.
What does county lines mean?
County lines, or ‘going country’ involves gangs using young people or vulnerable adults to carry and sell drugs across county boundaries using dedicated mobile phone hotlines.
The advantage to dealers is they can sell drugs outside the area they live in – often impoverished towns – and therefore reduce the risk of getting caught.
A criminal group may also target a vulnerable person living in an area outside of London and other major cities and take over their home as a base to sell drugs from.
Boys aged 14-17 are the most often targeted, however girls can also be exploited, often starting a relationship with a gang member that can lead to sexual and domestic violence.
Adults who are drug addicts or have learning difficulties are also targeted.
How do criminal gangs force kids into county lines crime?
Gangs use a combination of violence and intimidation and the offer of money or drugs.
The use of debt is a common feature in the exploitation of children and adults.
Children are often groomed by a criminal who will give them money and gifts like clothes and mobile phones.
The thugs will then tell them they owe the group money and have to work off the debt.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) has also had reports of kids being robbed of drugs by the very gangs they work for in staged robberies. They then believe they are in debt to the group.
However, some take part willingly to earn cash – one British police force reported that a child had received £500 per week as a runner.
Judge Anthony Bate sentenced her to five years imprisonment to be served in a young offenders institution as she had been aged under 20 at the time.
Ndikumana was sentenced to four years detention in a young offenders institution and Si to three years and four months at an earlier hearing last December.
Both had admitted supplying Class A drugs
The court had heard Ndikumana, from Essex, had been recruited through peer pressure and had a “chaotic” lifestyle as a care leaver.
Si, from London, got involved in drug dealing through the possibility of making money as well as naivety and had been acting under the direction of Saed, the court heard.
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