A MAJOR drug dealer is behind bars after a police operation in North Yorkshire.

County Lines drug dealer Dakari Brown, 22, of Bulay Road, Huddersfield, appeared at Leeds Crown Court today (July 26) after pleading guilty to being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin between Huddersfield and Scarborough.

He was sentenced to five years and nine months in jail.

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In February 2023, North Yorkshire Police say they discovered that a drugs line calling themselves the Mitch line was active in Scarborough offering heroin and crack cocaine for sale daily by sending bulk messages to local drug users.

It was established the Mitch deal line was being held in Huddersfield and was directing individuals who had embedded themselves in the town with local class A drug users, a tactic known as cuckooing.

Several arrests were made during this period of different individuals who could be linked to contact and direction from the ‘Mitch’ line.

The police Expedite Team based in Scarborough were able to identify Brown as the individual running the line from Huddersfield through top-ups, co-location of his personal phone, and the deal line and trips made to Scarborough.

In conjunction with West Yorkshire Police, Brown was arrested in March at his home address where evidence was recovered linking him to the deal phone and the ‘Mitch’ line.

Detective Constable Darrel Temple, of the Expedite Team said: “Class A drugs wreck lives and wreck communities. That’s why we’re relentless in our pursuit of offenders such as Dakari Brown who think they can operate with impunity across policing borders and into our neighbourhoods.

“As we have repeatedly demonstrated, we’re watching their every move and waiting for the right time to pounce.

“Through this proactive policing approach, we’re taking the fight to drug dealers and doing all we can to drive drug-related crime out of our area.”

County Lines is where illegal drugs are transported from one area to another, often across police and local authority boundaries.

Cuckooing is where criminals take over the home of an often vulnerable person and use the property to their advantage.