Three men jailed for over 12 years for supplying drugs in Suffolk

Pictured left to right: Lloyd Agyekum, Quin Byrne and Jason Mohammed

Three County Lines drug dealers who shipped Class A substances to Ipswich have been sentenced to a total of more than 12 years in prison.

Lloyd Agyekum, 27 years old; Quin Byrne, 25 years old; and Jason Mohammed, 46 years old; all appeared at Ipswich Crown Court on Thursday January 26, where they were sentenced to six years, four and a half years and two years’ imprisonment respectively.

All three men had previously pleaded guilty to involvement in the supply of heroin and crack cocaine with an estimated street value of £140,000.

The trio were arrested in 2021 after being identified as operating with the “Jerome” drug line. Agyekum of Turpin Way in Islington has been identified as a ‘line keeper’ involved in controlling the Jerome Line from London.

Byrne, who has no fixed address, has been identified as the “local commandant” for the line, who ran drug sales in the Ipswich area. Mohammed, from Marine Parade East in Clacton-on-Sea, was assigned as the ‘runner’ – the person sent out to do business.

The investigation into their crimes was carried out by Suffolk Police’s Serious Crime Disruption Team (SCDT) and the Ipswich Central Safer Neighborhood Team (SNT) in conjunction with the Metropolitan Police as part of Operation Orochi.

Officers found that the “Jerome” County Lines dealer network had been selling Class A drugs on various telephone numbers in Ipswich between November 2020 and May 2021.

Communication between Agyekum and Byrne was essential to the effective operation of the ‘Jerome’ line. Agyekum would be based in a remote location – usually in London – and would send messages to drug users in the Ipswich area from there.

Once a user received a drug inquiry, Byrne was contacted as the “local controller” and he then arranged for the deal to be completed, which involved sending “runners” like Mohammed to sell the drugs.

Most contacts were made via phone calls, but in some cases text messages were exchanged regarding supply and management of the line.

Detective Constable James Lait, of the Serious Crime Disruption Team, said: “There were many interlinked investigations leading to these men being brought to justice, which required cooperation between the SCDT, the local SNT and colleagues from the Metropolitan Police.

“These three men represent the various levels at which County Lines operates. Their varying degrees of guilt are reflected in the varying lengths of their sentences, but all three have played their part in this criminal enterprise.

“People like Lloyd Agyekum are higher up in the chain and probably think they are putting enough distance between themselves and the street dealers to avoid capture. This example clearly proves that this is not the case and we are committed to dismantling these networks from the bottom up.”

Operation Orochi is a collaboration set up by Suffolk Constabulary with the Metropolitan Police to combat County Lines drug trafficking, which operates between London and Suffolk.

If you suspect drug trafficking in your area, or notice anything suspicious or inappropriate, please let us know. You don’t have to be sure, just worried.

Call the police on 101 or contact the independent charity Crimestoppers to make a report anonymously – either online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org or by phone on 0800 555 111.