Yorkshire drug dealers jailed after being caught in the act by undercover operation
Two Yorkshire drug dealers have been jailed for a combined total of more than 10 years after being caught in the act by a covert police operation.
Operation Dream Alpha was set up by South Yorkshire Police to tackle the drug market in Doncaster and so far more than 100 people have been arrested on suspicion of drug offences in the city.
Two of the latest offenders to be sentenced as part of the operation are Mackenzie Anthony and Nicholas Berry, who sold heroin and crack cocaine to people in Doncaster via the ‘Nick Line’.
Detectives gathered a huge amount of intelligence and evidence against the pair before they were arrested.
Faced with insurmountable evidence, Anthony pleaded guilty to 10 counts of supplying Class A drugs, two counts of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs and one count of possession with intent to supply a Class B drug.
Anthony, of The Homestead, Bentley, also admitted charges of intentional suffocation, causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal and engaging in controlling or coercive behaviour.
This is in relation to separate offences which saw the 21-year-old kick and strangle a dog and relentlessly abuse a woman over a prolonged period of time, with Anthony even pushing her head under the water as she ran a bath.
He appeared before Sheffield Crown Court on Friday (January 16) and was jailed for a total of seven years and one month.
Berry, 48, of no fixed abode, was jailed for three years and four months at the same hearing after admitting five counts of supplying Class A drugs.
A third man, Mark Berry, 46, of Wharf Road, Doncaster, is due to be sentenced in April after dealing drugs for the Nick Line.
He has pleaded guilty to permitting the use of a premises for drug supply, two counts of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs and one count of possession with intent to supply a Class B drug.
Investigating Officer Stuart Gough, of South Yorkshire Police, said: "This was a long-running and complex investigation requiring a significant amount of patience, professionalism and tenacity to achieve this end result.
"Drugs absolutely ravage people's lives and this operation has sought to target those profiting from other people's misery by removing drug dealers from the network of supply in Doncaster.
"The supply of drugs is inextricably linked to organised crime groups. What might seem like a 'simple' street deal is more often than not funding unacceptable violence on our streets which threatens the safety of innocent people in our local communities.
"We will not allow this to happen and will continue to utilise different tools and resources available to us to root out those involved in this criminality and bring them to justice."