Two brothers who led a large scale County Lines drugs conspiracy between Liverpool, Gosport & Plymouth have been jailed

Two brothers have been jailed for a combined total of more than 33 years for leading a large-scale Class A drugs enterprise between Liverpool, Gosport and Plymouth.

Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary’s Northern Area Serious & Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) led the investigation into the County Lines drugs supply network, with the support of Merseyside Police and Devon & Cornwall Police, resulting in the operation being dismantled from the ground up.

Over the course of the investigation, 4kg of drugs and more than £30,000 in cash were physically seized by police, along with a number of weapons. Between 1 January 2022 and 28 March 2023, the network sold at least 25kg of crack cocaine and heroin in Gosport, and approximately 9.6kg of crack and heroin in Plymouth.

By targeting suppliers operating in Gosport, police were able to work their way up the chain of command to identify couriers, operational managers and ultimately two heads of the Organised Crime Group (OCG) – brothers Anthony and Brian Siner.

Anthony oversaw the Siner OCG, running heroin and crack cocaine through Gosport, while Brian controlled the line operating in Plymouth, Devon, from his prison cell where he was coming to the end of a 14 year sentence for previous drugs supply offences in Liverpool.

The County Line – which marketed itself as a brand known as the ‘Scouse Dave’ line – had been embedded in Gosport for a number of years, with local police officers conducting regular disruption and intervention work to target distributors and remove drugs from the supply chain.

A total of 17 conspirators were brought into the criminal justice system, pleading guilty to their involvement in the conspiracy. On Friday 31 January this year, the following four individuals were sentenced at Portsmouth Crown Court:

• Anthony Siner, aged 38, of Monterey Road, Liverpool pleaded guilty to four counts of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and was jailed for 17 years and 7 months.
• ​Brian Siner, aged 41, of Clint Way, Liverpool pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and was jailed for 15 years and 9 months.
• Gareth Roberts, aged 43, of York Road in Southend-on-Sea, Essex – pleaded guilty to four counts of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and was jailed for 6 years and 9 months. Roberts acted as a courier for the operation, collecting cash and delivering drugs to Gosport and Plymouth.
• Lee Illingworth, aged 39, of no fixed abode, who has pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for two years, having already spent 13 months in prison awaiting sentence. He was also ordered to complete 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

His Honour Judge Sawyer, passing sentence, said: "It's sufficient to say this was a well organised and professional drug dealing network. It involved the exploitation of vulnerable people, mainly drug users, who were made to sell drugs on your behalf."

12 other OCG members, detailed below, are due to be sentenced over the course of 20 and 21 March:

• Adam Hughes, aged 38, of Speedwell Lane in Heathfield, East Sussex, who has pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.
• Lee Richardson aged 27, of Blackhorse Lane, Liverpool, who has pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.
• Demi Hannon, aged 27, of Gorst Street, Liverpool, who has pleaded guilty to participation in the criminal activities of an Organised Crime Group.
• Brett Coe-Quainton, aged 25, of Gale Moor Avenue in Gosport, who has pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.
• Christopher Crewe, aged 39, of no fixed abode, who has pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.
• Sean Harland, aged 43, of Miller Drive, Fareham, who has pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.
• Paul Naughton, aged 30, of no fixed abode, who has pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.
• Max Pike, aged 28, of Little Chilworth, Gosport, who has pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.
• Clayton Donnelly, aged 21, of Sunbeam Way, Gosport, who has pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.
• Gary Cranney, aged 40, of Eldonian Way in Liverpool, who has pleaded guilty to four counts of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.
• Donna Yuen, aged 48, of Davenport Close, Gosport, who has pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.
• Kevin Wealthal, aged 57, of Little Chilworth in Gosport, who has pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.

Danny Venning, aged 38, of Beatrice Avenue, Lipson, Plymouth pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and will be sentenced on 7 April.