Sutton Coldfield Man Jailed For Trafficking 14 Year-Old Boy In County Lines Gang
3 May 2019, 11:43 | Updated: 3 May 2019, 11:48
A man from Sutton Coldfield who forced a 14 year-old boy to deal drugs has been jailed for four and a half years.
18 year-old Harrison Coe was stopped by police driving along the A484 on 12 March 2019. The subsequent police search resulted in cannabis being found and later at the police station a further package which contained 48 wraps of drugs which contained cocaine and opiates.
Police examined the electronic devices that were recovered and the data linked the driver and vehicle to a 14-year-old child who went missing from the Sutton Coldfield area a few days earlier.
Coe admitted in interview that he had collected the child on the instructions of another person and brought him to Llanelli via Cardiff.
Deborah Rogers of the CPS said: "Gangs who sell drugs sometimes use young people to do so, as a way of trying to distance themselves from their criminal activity.
"County lines operations have been found in many parts of England and Wales adversely affecting numerous communities.
"Building on a thorough investigation, the CPS presented a strong case against this defendant which resulted in the early guilty pleas."
