A pair of drug dealers have been jailed following an investigation into a County Line operating in Sutton-in-Ashfield.
Kain Dawson and Ben Hardy were revealed to be supplying addicts in the town with Class A drugs through the use of bulk messaging via a mobile phone line.
When their homes were raided officers from the force’s County Lines team found drugs, bundles of cash, high-value clothing and jewellery.
Mobile phones were also seized which provided the investigation with further evidence of the pair’s criminality.
At Nottingham Crown Court on Tuesday (16 September) 23-year-old Hardy was jailed for three-and-a-half years while Dawson, aged 21, was locked up for two years and nine months.
Hardy, of Mansfield Road, Sutton-in-Ashfield, pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply heroin and crack cocaine.
Dawson, of Westbourne Road, Sutton-in-Ashfield, admitted conspiring to supply heroin and crack cocaine and possession with intent to supply cannabis.
Officers began investigating Hardy after intelligence suggested he was running a line into Sutton and an address in Westbourne Road was being used as a drugs den.
Warrants were executed at the property, as well as at Hardy’s home in Mansfield Road, on 17 June 2025.
Both men were arrested and searches were carried out which revealed the extent of their offending.
At Westbourne Road officers found bags filled with wraps of heroin and cocaine, multiple mobile phones and cash.
Expensive clothes, trainers and jewellery were found in a room at the Mansfield Road property as well as large amounts of cash stashed under a bed and cannabis products in a freezer.
Police Constable Jack Shephard, of the County Lines team, said:
“Analysis of the phones seized during these raids revealed bulk messages advertising the sale of Class A drugs were being sent out to addicts across Sutton-in-Ashfield.
“Drug dealing of this nature causes immeasurable harm in our communities and there was evidence these two offenders were making significant amounts of money through this illegal and pernicious trade.
“Our work as a team aims to disrupt County Lines by seizing drugs and placing dealers before the courts.
“We also continue our efforts to educate the public about the impact this criminality can have on the young people who are dragged into these operations by those higher up the chain.”
County Lines is a term used to describe gangs supplying drugs, often across county borders, using dedicated mobile phone lines.
The gangs frequently exploit children or vulnerable adults to move and store drugs – using violence and coercion to force people to do their dirty work.
