Drug dealers targeted market town as part of 'Kev' county line plot
A Merseyside man cuckooed vulnerable people's houses as part of the "Kev" line plot to flood a market town with crack cocaine and heroin. An investigation by West Mercia Police found Connor Sholliker, 24 and of Wilson Road in Prescot, and Kaine Currens were part of the "Kev" county line supply line which operated from Merseyside and was responsible for bringing large quantities of class A drugs into Shrewsbury.
Evidence obtained as part of the investigation, launched in June this year, showed both men had links to phones identified as drugs lines - dedicated numbers used to run the organised drug-dealing network. As part of their operation they targeted vulnerable young people and used their homes as a base for their drug dealing - a practice known as cuckooing.
Sholliker, who previously appeared before the youth courts in Liverpool five years ago after he admitted carrying a knife in a public place, was charged with being concerned in the supply of class A drugs - crack cocaine and heroin. Currens, 23 and of Manor Road in Telford, was charged with the same offences.
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The pair were sentenced at Shrewsbury Crown Court on October 18. Sholliker received a six year sentence while Currens was jailed for three years. Detective Constable Andrea Marston, of West Mercia's local organised crime team in Shropshire, said: “Drugs are a blight on our community and ruin lives.
“We’re constantly working to rid our streets of drugs and I’m glad that we’ve been able to dismantle this line and that Sholliker and Currens will now face time behind bars for their part in it. The local community are key in helping us to tackle drug dealing and I’d always urge anyone with any information or concerns about drug dealing or drug use in their area to let us know."