A GANG supplying class A drugs in Southampton has been torn apart by police.

Thirty-five members of the network running from Merseyside down into the city have been jailed for more than 100 years.

An 18-month operation with multiple agencies including Merseyside police, titled Shield, saw eight Liverpudlian ringleaders sent down for almost 60 years for conspiracy to supply crack cocaine and heroin.

During the operation, £34,736 in cash was seized, as well as drugs worth £24,350 at street level.

Criminals from Southampton, London and Liverpool all had a part in supplying the city with heroin and cocaine. Officers executed warrants across all three cities, including 26 on the same day in April last year.

Thirteen criminals with addresses in Southampton, as well as others in West End and Eastleigh, were convicted in 2016 for crimes ranging from using their premises for the supply of the class A drugs to money laundering more than £30,000.

Travelling between Southampton and Liverpool 79 times during the operation, eight Liverpool men, aged between 25 and 28, pleaded guilty at Southampton Crown Court to conspiracy to supply cocaine and heroin.

Other offences included possession of a firearm that was disguised as a mobile phone, money laundering and possession of a knuckle duster.

Prison sentences for the eight totalled 59 years for their network that supplied more than 5kg of cocaine and heroin in Southampton between September 2015 and April 2016. The longest sentences were given to Yugash Lawler, 28, of Woodland Road, and Ricky Wilgrove, 28, of Lethbridge Close, both of Liverpool, who were each sentenced to ten years and six months behind bars.

Head of serious and organised crime in Southampton, Detective Superintendent Paul Barton said officers had specifically targeted those higher up in the network.

Det Supt Barton said: “Working with our colleagues in Merseyside we were able to target those who were running quite a large drug operation in the city.

“Through drug runners, we were able to stop those who were higher up in the network, those are the people we’re interested in. We were putting officers in more rural places, where perhaps the CCTV wouldn’t have been quite as good, or other factors that might have prevented us catching them.

“Modern-day slavery is also becoming a bigger problem with vulnerable people being taken advantage of as part of these networks. It’s about giving people in those situations the confidence to realise that the position they are in isn’t the right one, even if it’s better than where they’ve come from.”

He added: “Enforcement, as it always has been, is our best tool, and then comes education.”

From their southern base in Southampton’s Northam Road, drugs were sold and runners despatched.

The drug phone used by the gang always stayed in Merseyside but would be used to liaise with those from Liverpool who were managing the network in Southampton. The eight would then deliver the drugs themselves and collect the money or send runners to supply the drugs on Southampton streets.

On one journey, £6,000 was seized when a car containing members of the gang was stopped by police in Staffordshire.

Daniel Pythian, 25, had his Liverpool home in Albert Schweizer Avenue searched by police who discovered a taser disguised as a mobile phone.

The drugs were believed to have been sourced from Holland, with Lawler and Wilgrove travelling there several times. One trip ended up with more than 20,000 euros being seized from them while out of the country.

Six people from another network crossing the Hampshire border from south London appearing at Southampton Crown Court today.

THE 35 SENTENCES HANDED OUT SO FAR:

From Liverpool:

• Yugash Lawler, aged 28, Woodland Road, Liverpool pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply crack cocaine and heroin. He was sentenced at Southampton Crown Court on April 28 to 10 years and 6 months.

• Ricky Wilgrove, aged 28, of Lethbridge Close, Liverpool pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply crack cocaine and heroin and money laundering. He was sentenced at Southampton Crown Court on April 28 to 10 years and 6 months for the drug offences and a further two years for money laundering, to run concurrently.

• Darren Bailey, aged 26, Dentwood Street, Liverpool pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supplying crack cocaine and heroin. He was sentenced at Southampton Crown Court on April 28 to 9 years.

• Jordan Palmer, aged 26, St James Drive, Liverpool pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply crack cocaine and heroin. He was sentenced at Southampton Crown Court on April 28 to 6 years and 9 months.

• Daniel Topping, aged 25, Boswell Street, Liverpool pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply crack cocaine and heroin. He was sentenced at Southampton Crown Court on April 28 to 3 years and 6 months.

• Matthew Grant, aged 28 of New Ferry Road, Wirral pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply crack cocaine and heroin and possession of an offensive weapon. He was sentenced at Southampton Crown Court on April 28 to 6 years and 3 months for possession of a knuckle duster.

• Daniel Pythian, aged 25, Albert Schweizer Avenue, Liverpool pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply crack cocaine and heroin and possession of a section 5 firearm. He was sentenced at Southampton Crown Court on April 28 to 6 years and 6 months for possession of stun gun.

• Mark Smith, aged 26, of Maple Grove, Liverpool pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply crack cocaine and heroin. He was sentenced at Southampton Crown Court on April 28 to 6 years and 6 months.

The 13 people with Southampton addresses:

• Ethan Brown, aged 21 from Canute House, Kings Street, Southampton pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply heroin and conspiracy to supply crack cocaine and was sentenced to 5 years.

• Steven Donnelly, aged 42 from Old Northam Road, Southampton pleaded guilty to permit use of premises for supply of heroin and supplying heroin and was sentenced to 24 months, suspended for 24 months and a 6 month drug rehabilitation order.

• Montel Graham, aged 19 from Howell Close, Southampton pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply heroin and conspiracy to supply crack cocaine and was sentenced to 28 months in prison. Graham was found to be in a possession of scales used to weigh drugs which were found to have traces of cocaine on.

• Michael Scott, aged 19 from Hendy Court, Selby Place, Southampton pleaded guilty to supplying heroin and supplying crack cocaine and was given a 24 month sentence, suspended for 24 months and 250 hours of unpaid work.

• Sofia Clarke, aged 18 from Sedbergh Road, Southampton pleaded guilty to supplying crack cocaine and supplying heroin and was sentenced to 18 months, suspended for 24 months and 150 hours of unpaid work.

• A 17-year-old girl from Southampton pleaded guilty to supplying heroin and supplying crack cocaine and was sentenced to a youth rehabilitation order, supervision and was electronically monitored for three months with a curfew.

• Jason Thompson, aged 35, Howell Close, Southampton pleaded guilty to supplying crack cocaine and heroin and was sentenced to 42 months in prison.

• George Donnachie, aged 55, Jubilee Court, Southampton pleaded guilty to supplying crack cocaine and heroin, possession with intent to supply crack cocaine and possession with intent to supply heroin and sentenced to 36 months in prison. Donnachie was found with nine wraps of crack cocaine and 14 wraps of heroin in his possession.

• Hassan Sheikh, aged 25, from Clarence House, Southampton pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to supply heroin, conspiracy to supply crack cocaine and two counts of money laundering. Shiekh stood trial and was found guilty and sentenced to 78 months in prison. Sheikh had laundered over £30,000 of drug money through a betting account at a local bookmaker. Over £10, 000 cash was seized from him.

• Jimmy Fisher, age 52 of Graham House, Southampton pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply crack cocaine and heroin and possession of crack cocaine and heroin and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Fisher was found to have 13 wraps of crack cocaine and seven wraps of heroin in his possession.

• A 17-year-old boy from Southampton pleaded guilty to supplying heroin and was given a youth rehabilitation order, a supervision requirement and was electronically monitored for three months.

• Marlon Walters, aged 32, of Tatwin Crescent, Southampton pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of heroin and sentenced to a 12 month community order and a 6 month drug rehabilitation order.

• Alpha Bah, aged 23 of Burgess Road, Southampton pleaded guilty conspiracy to supply crack cocaine and heroin and was sentenced to 24 months, suspended for 20 months and 200 hours community service

One from Eastleigh and one from West End:

• Shane Kimber, aged 23 from Firtree Court, West End pleaded guilty to supplying heroin and supplying crack cocaine and was sentenced to 24 months in prison.

• Shaquille Forsyth-Wilding, aged 20 from Desborough Road, Eastleigh pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply heroin and conspiracy to supply crack cocaine and was sentenced to 28 months in prison. Forsyth-Wilding was found to have 41 wraps of heroin and 29 wraps of cocaine in his possession upon search.