A man and his wife who advertised the sale of cocaine and heroin by sending out flare messages were brought down after their phones were seized.
Jonathan Hughes, 32 from Percival Road, Ellesmere Port and Jade Hughes, 33, from Gateacre Court, Ellesmere Port appeared at Chester Crown Court on 4 January 2024 after pleading guilty to being concerned in the supply of class A drugs at an earlier hearing.
In September 2023, Ellesmere Port Proactive team opened an investigation within Ellesmere Port in order to clamp down on any ongoing illegal dealings of Class A drugs. During their investigation the team found a mobile phone which was deemed as responsible for sending out messages almost advertising the sale and availability of any drugs in the local area. These ‘flare messages’ went out to dealers and multiple customers across the region.
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Not long after the first mobile had been discovered, a second mobile was identified as sending out these advertisements about the availability of crack cocaine and heroin to dealers and customers.
This mobile number took over from the original number in an unsuccessful attempt to keep the ‘flare messages’ on the low. It was then later discovered that a third and final mobile number took over the duty of sending out these messages.
A mobile phone was seized by Cheshire Police in an unrelated matter and the device appeared to have had connections to one of the dealer’s phones, allowing the police department to track down the dealers and shut down their business of dealing illegal Class A drugs.
Eventually, the three phones were connected to the couple on December 5, 2023 leading to the arrests of Mr Hughes and Mrs Hughes. Police continued the investigation into their businesses by seizing the couples’ mobiles.
Police later carried out a search of their addresses and seized drug paraphernalia including plastic snap bags and a set of scales.
DC Roy Wellings of Cheshire Police said: "This is one of the many convictions we have secured to tackle illegal drug dealing in Ellesmere Port and we will continue our efforts to rid the streets of drugs to make our communities safer."
Following a trial Jonathan Hughes was sentenced to 32 months and his wife, Jade Hughes, was sentenced to 56 months behind bars.
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