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County lines: Nine jailed for Great Yarmouth drugs gang

Norfolk Constabulary Deano county line drug gangNorfolk Constabulary
The "Deano" county operation was headed by Donkoh from his flat in Hackney, east London

The leader of a county lines drug gang which "flooded" a seaside town with drugs has been jailed along with eight other members.

William Donkoh, 31, was given 12 years for running the "Deano" line in Great Yarmouth from his east London flat for at least five years.

Donkoh's "professional and sophisticated" gang saw at least 1kg of crack cocaine and heroin sold in the first half of 2018.

A total of nine people were jailed.

Det Sgt Paul Morton said: "We are very happy with the result, the sentencing reflects the level of the criminality and the seriousness of these offences."

Donkoh was arrested along with eight others following an operation by Norfolk Police between May 2017 and June 2018. During the trial it was heard he sent supplies to Great Yarmouth via taxis and his London managers, Sebastian Arenas-Valencia, 20, and Glonar Thomas, 17 at the time, would store and distribute the drugs from addresses or "trap houses" in the town.

'Flooded'

When Donkoh was arrested in London in June 2018 police said the main mobile phone used to control the "Deano" line was seized along with cash.

Officers estimated 45,000 text messages were sent from the phone to Norfolk drug addicts between May 2017 and June 2018 alone.

Judge Andrew Shaw said that money was "literally pouring in" to Donkoh after the Deano group "flooded the streets of Great Yarmouth with heroin and crack cocaine".

A police raid in October 2017 of three Great Yarmouth addresses saw the retrieval of mobile phones, class A drugs and other drug related paraphernalia. Six women, who were all drug users, acted as dealers locally.

Three allowed their properties be used as bases or "trap house" in exchange for the rent being paid.

They were also paid in drugs to feed their own addiction.

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The nine received the following sentences:

  • William Donkoh,31, from Hackney, London was sentenced to 12 years
  • Tajana Reinis, 40, of Rodney Road, Great Yarmouth received seven years jail
  • Irina Rasimovic, 32, of no fixed abode got six years
  • Sebastian Arenas-Valencia, 21, of Wick Road, London was given 10 years in a youth offenders institution

They had all pleaded not guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply class A drugs.

  • Jodie Burt, 34, of Coronation Terrace, Great Yarmouth received a 30-month jail term
  • Debbie Thain, 35, of Orford Close, Great Yarmouth was given 40 months
  • Lisa Vincent, 39, of no fixed abode was jailed for four years
  • Samantha Williams, 39, of York Road, Great Yarmouth was given four years and nine months
  • Glonar Thomas, 19, of Berger Road, London was sent to a young offenders institution for seven years and nine months

All five pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, namely crack cocaine and heroin.

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