A Wistaston man who managed a county lines drugs gang has been jailed after officers tracked the phone he used to advertise heroin and crack cocaine.
Harvey Etchells pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of class A drugs (Heroin), possession with intent to supply class A drugs (other) and possession of an offensive weapon in a public place.
The 27-year-old, of Windermere Road, Wistaston, was sentenced for three years and seven months behind bars.
The court heard officers from Cheshire’s Serious and Organised Crime Unit had identified two mobile phone numbers used by Etchells functioning as county lines for the sale of crack cocaine and heroin in the Crewe area.
The numbers used by Etchells were known as the “H” line, who advertised the sale of illegal drugs via his phone.
Officers’ enquiries revealed one of the two numbers had been offering drugs for sale to a long list of contacts on a daily basis.
Further inquiries revealed messages were being sent in the vicinity of an address in Wistaston.
They executed a warrant at Etchells’ home address on Windermere Road on Thursday November 28, 2024.
Etchells fled upstairs into his bathroom but was detained and a phone was seized. Police had reason to believe Etchells had attempted to flush further evidence down the toilet.
Officers accessed a manhole in the property’s garden, and when they flushed the toilet in the bathroom a mobile phone exited the downpipe into manhole.
Officers rang one of the numbers believed to be associated with drug supply and the phone that Etchells had attempted to dispose of rang.
Back inside the house, officers found items believed to be used in the sale of class A drugs across the property, including:
Several sets of scales
Cling film/wrap
A quantity of Cannabis
A large bag of white power suspected to be used to further the yield of drugs
Scraps of paper with names and phone numbers on were also recovered from an outside bin at the front of address.
These revealed 14 of the 25 numbers on the document were known to Cheshire Police systems as people linked to possession of Class A drugs.
A large zombie-style knife 17.5 inches in length was also found in Etchells’ bedroom.
Later, when interviewed, he claimed he used it for gardening and he was not aware they were illegal to possess.
Etchells was later charged with being concerned in the supply of class A drugs (Heroin), possession with intent to supply class A drugs (other) and possession of an offensive weapon in a public place.
Det Insp Rob Balfour, of the Serious and Organised Crime Unit, said: “Controllers of county lines groups play integral roles in the distribution of illegal substances across large areas advertising drugs for sale to perspective buyers.
“The presentation of the evidence by the team has more than shown Etchells’ control of the line, how involved he was and for how long.
“Unlike Etchells’ flushed mobile phone that was recovered by us, the work of SOCU officers has resulted in his plans to continue the selling illegal drugs going fully down the toilet.
“I really welcome such a sentence being given to Etchells. It is well documented the damage these types of drugs do and Etchells was trying to profit from his criminality.
“People who involve themselves at this level of control deserve such a sentence.
“We work very hard to prosecute those controlling County Lines and want to protect and safeguard any individuals at risk of exploitation from these types of criminals.
“Officers are continuously acting on intelligence and carrying out regular enforcement activity on both a local and county-wide level to go after organised groups.
“I urge anyone with any information about suspected drug related activity in their community to get in touch.
“You will be listened to, and we will investigate the matter.”
It’s reassuring to know that police raids to execute a drugs search warrant still involve blocking and monitoring the sewage system for the premises being raided… I thought that had stopped a long while ago!