Two men have been jailed and a third given a community order as part of an operation into county lines drug dealing and exploitation in Peterborough.
Natty Zewdu, 33, was arrested on May 16 after police raided his flat in Lincoln Road, Peterborough city centre, as part of Operation Tsunami.
Following months of intelligence gathering, police evidenced Zewdu was involved in running a county line supplying crack cocaine in the city.
Marek Sandor, 20, was also identified as being involved, and was also arrested on May 16 after police forced entry to a flat in Goffsmill, Bretton.
Around the same time police arrested Zewdu, undercover officers spotted 27-year-old Mihlali Jekwa – an associate and suspected dealer on behalf of Sandor – in Alma Road, resulting in his arrest.
Zewdu and Sandor appeared at Peterborough Crown Court on Friday (November 3) where Zewdu was jailed for three years after admitting being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine.
Sandor, of Somerby Garth, Parnwell, was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for 18 months but must carry out 150 hours of unpaid work, after previously admitting being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin.
Jekwa, of Hedgelands, Werrington, appeared at the same court on August 17 where he was jailed for two years and four months after previously admitting supplying crack cocaine.
Detective Constable Tom Corbett, who investigated, said: “This operation has been many months of hard work, crossing different departments from intelligence and organised crime to neighbourhood policing.
“We are relentless in our approach to taking out these lines and the people running them who pose a significant risk to some of the most vulnerable people in our communities, including children, who they often exploit and coerce into being part of their illegal enterprise.”
Zewdu and Sandor are the latest to be sentenced as part of Operation Tsunami, a crackdown on exploitation and illegal drugs in Peterborough.
The enforcement phase, which ran throughout May, has so far seen 48 people arrested with 21 of those charged with 84 drug offences, and ten people sentenced to a total of more than 33 years in prison.
You can read more about the operation on our dedicated Operation Tsunami webpage.
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