A drill rapper from south London has been jailed along with several other people for supplying heroin and crack cocaine as part of a county lines gang.
Daniel Olaloko, whose stage name is Trigga T, was sentenced to seven years in prison after admitting to supplying drugs in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria.
He and Peter Adebayo, 19, who was also jailed for seven years at Burnley crown court, set up and ran a sophisticated phone relay system between December and April in which users would call a number to place an order for drugs.
The men would receive calls in other parts of the UK, including Manchester, Preston and London, and would then direct others in the conspiracy to deliver the drugs to customers in Barrow-in-Furness. The line was give a brand name of Nation, which was advertised for sale via text messages to potential customers.
Cumbria constabulary launched Operation Titanic to target the local impact of county lines, in which gangs move class A drugs and cash between innercity hubs and provincial areas.
Olaloko, who studied at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and in 2016 auditioned for ITV’s X Factor, was arrested in a raid at his halls of residence this year. Blades, mobile phones, heroin and crack cocaine were found in his room, along with a T-shirt emblazoned with the name Silwood Nation, the group with which he rapped and released YouTube videos.
Officers investigating Adebayo and Olaloko’s group had a breakthrough last year when they raided a property in Barrow, which led to three people being given sentences of between five and 10 years for intent to supply crack cocaine and heroin. The three acted under direction of Olaloko and Adebayo, who were arrested with others as the investigation progressed.
Two others pleaded guilty with Olaloko and Adebayo to conspiracy to supply class A drugs. They were Joshua Adams, 24, who was sentenced to four years and five months in prison, and a 17-year-old male from Manchester, who was sentenced to 18 months in detention and a training order.
A spokesperson from for theSouth Cumbria drug squad said: “These men operated as a sophisticated and relentless organised crime group. They targeted vulnerable people to facilitate their illegal activity and used fear and intimidation to operate their business. Today’s sentencing is further evidence of our commitment to tackling the county lines drug supply model which is in use across the UK.”
