A man was sentenced to three years and ten months in jail following an investigation by a Hackney police task force into a county lines drug supply route from London to Hertfordshire.

Shayden Mullings, 19, of no fixed address, was sentenced at Wood Green Crown Court on Friday, November 20.

An investigation by Hackney Gangs Taskforce established that Mullings was in possession of multiple drug lines over 18 months in London, Hertfordshire and Northamptonshire.

Hackney detectives established that he was one of the main people running the operation, as he was in possession of the line phones.

PC Cal Gregory, from the Hackney Gangs Taskforce, said: “The Met is now arresting those criminals at the top of the county lines routes, who hold the lines and not the drugs, more and more.

“This new method allows us to properly dismantle county lines routes from the top, and stop others from replacing them so easily.”

At a hearing on September 21, the 19-year-old pleaded guilty to three counts of being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs such as heroin and crack cocaine and possession of cannabis over the period from July 2018 to January 2020.

Mullings also pleaded guilty at the same court to two further charges of being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs in Northampton on September 13 and 14 in 2019.

In Northampton, Mullings managed the operation and would answer calls from drug users before directing “runners” to deal drugs on his behalf.

PC Gregory added: “Criminals and gangs will fight one another to take control of the drug supply networks, and county lines are a driving force for violence that ruins communities and leaves families grieving.”

The term county lines is used when illegal drugs are transported from one area to another, often across police and local authority boundaries, but not exclusively.

Drugs are often moved by children or vulnerable people who are coerced by gangs.

The county line refers to the mobile phone line used to take the orders of drugs.