Ten people have been jailed for a total of more than 50 years after police uncovered a drugs gang connected to cocaine and a gun hidden in a mattress.
Officers from the East Midlands Special Operations Unit picked the group apart while following leads on drug dealing in Bulwell and Bestwood.
Police say a “complex network of organised illegal activity” was found and raids across five months in 2014 uncovered equipment used to make and weigh cocaine, a gun and ammunition, cash and cannabis plants.
Detective Chief Inspector Paul Myers, who led the investigation, said: “As this case illustrates, with some good police work, often one name can lead to another, and then another and then another, until you have a criminal gang before a judge.
“As a result ten people, a quantity of drugs and manufacturing equipment, and a firearm have been removed from our communities and an illicit drugs network dismantled.”
At a series of hearings held at Leicester Crown Court, twelve people faced drug charges.
Among them was Steven Watson, of Gainsford Crescent in Bestwood, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A and B drugs and received a six-year prison sentence.
The 59-year-old was also found guilty after a trial of conspiracy to possess both a firearm and ammunition.
Gallery: Ten of the network and their sentences
And on Thursday August 11 2016 he was sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court to six years and two years respectively, to run concurrently to each other but consecutive to his drugs sentence. This brings Watson’s total sentence to 12 years imprisonment, with a minimum term of six years, to serve the remainder on licence.
Also convicted was Andrew Breslin, 45, of Gainsford Crescent in Bestwood. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A and B drugs and received seven years in jail.
Adrian Davey, of Mansfield Road in Daybrook, pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm and received six-and-a-half years in jail. Police found a powerful handgun hidden in a mattress at his home.
The 28-year-old was also found guilty after a trial of conspiracy to supply Class B drugs and was given a six-month custodial sentence, to run concurrently.
Other people to face court included;
• Elliott Butler, 23, of Bentinck Street, Hucknall, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and was jailed for five years and three months.
• Richard Taylor, 33, of Fife Avenue in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class B drugs and the production of Class B drugs and was sentenced to four years imprisonment.
• Ashley Prater, 30, of Montague Road in Hucknall, was found guilty of conspiracy to supply Class B drugs and sent to prison for four years.
• Lyndon Leith, 37, of Chisholm Way in Bestwood, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supplying Class B drugs and was sentenced to three years and 10 months imprisonment.
• David Langford, 46, of Jedburgh Walk in Nottingham, was found guilty of conspiracy to supply Class B drugs and received three years and nine months in prison.
• Tara Shelton, 21, of Bentinck Street in Hucknall, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and was given a three-year jail term.
• Imran Shabbir, 36, of Bracadale Road in Nottingham, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class B drugs and sentenced to two years and three months imprisonment.
• Dean Antoni Reid, 39, of Conway Close in Nottingham, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class B drugs and received 47 weeks in custody, suspended for 24 months.
• Amal Fawzi, 38, of Second Avenue in Carlton, was found guilty after a trial of conspiracy to supply Class B drugs and given a 33-week jail term, suspended for two years.
