WANTED: Alfred Philip Dear still on run - with £5k reward offered

Alfred Philip Dear senior, 45, formerly of James Street Caravan Site in York, was jailed in his absence for his part as head of the Class A drug supply ring.

It followed a three-year investigation by North Yorkshire Police which shut down the gang. Ten other co-conspirators were jailed for more than 102 years for conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine in York.

While police work with forces around the country and the Borders Agency to track down Dear - who has a £5,000 reward on his head - they have released more details about how they cracked the case.

Detective Superintendent Steve Thomas said the investigation involved 26 police departments within North Yorkshire Police and other forces.

Det Supt Thomas said teams of officers carried out fingertip searches of properties looking for "things as tiny as a SIM card" while other officers executed drug warrants.

He said: "They work in teams of seven or eight, and if you add to this to the officers required to deal with one single arrest and to transport any prisoners, we need a team of around 10 to 20, multiply this by four when we executed four warrants simultaneously at one site, then add other specialist resources such as sniffer dogs and their handlers and local neighbourhood policing officers who provide reassurance - we had around 100 officers at one site during the warrant phase."

Following the arrests, analysts and intelligence officers looked at "reams of downloads from mobile phones and automatic number plate recognition data", while undercover surveillance officers - who were never named during court proceedings, and referred to by a randomly assigned letter (Officer Z, for example) - gathered further evidence which was cross-referenced with phone and ANPR data to prove a sequence of events or activities.

Det Supt Thomas said: "In this case we seized £115,000 in cash which we had to prove was not earned through legitimate means. Two defendants also pleaded guilty to money laundering in this case. Our drug analysts provide expert witness evidence. For example, a text message on a mobile phone may be obviously about drugs to you or I, but for it to stand in a court of law, only the word of a trained drugs expert witness will suffice.

"Although she played no part in the investigation, our traveller liaison officer, Police Community Support Officer Marie Hampshire, was acknowledged by the judge for her liaison work with the traveller community in building bridges, improving communication and providing reassurance during periods of heightened police activity at certain sites. It is a very challenging role often made more difficult at times of police activity, but Marie has built up valuable and long-standing relationships with the travelling community which we hope to build on into the future."

A total of 550 pieces of evidence including drugs, DNA, clothing, cash, fingerprints and mobile phones were produced to the court, coordinated by Detective Constable Adam Heatlie, who was commended by the judge along with five other members of staff.

Serious Crime Prevention Orders

The force’s Offender Management Unit prepared Serious Crime Prevention Orders in respect of Alfred Dear senior and his two sons, Alfred junior, 26 and Levi, 24, both also of James Street Caravan Site, York.

The orders place restrictions and conditions on their access to the means with which they conducted criminal activity, including a restriction on the number of mobile phones, computers and landlines they own.

They must also register the details of their devices with the police - from the service provider to the serial, SIM card and telephone numbers, and use of email and instant messaging is also restricted.

All three must also provide the police with the details of any income they receive, any vehicles they own or use, and the addresses of any residential and temporary accommodation they stay in.

These orders come into effect on the day they are released from prison and will last for five years. If they breach their order, they could be sent back to prison for up to five years.

Proceeds of crime

A hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act will be held at some point in the future. Police will seek an order that allows them to keep the seized money and any apply for any other assets that they can prove were earned as a result of criminal activity.

- Crimestoppers has offered a £5,000 reward to anyone whose information leads to the arrest of Alfred Dear. The reward will only qualify if information is passed to Crimestoppers on 0800 555111 or via the non-traceable anonymous online form at crimestoppers-uk.org