Drugs gang used thumbs up emoji to confirm deals

Malachi Jamieson was jailed for four years

The leader of a drug gang which used thumbs up emojis to indicate deals had been completed has been jailed.

Malachi Jamieson, 29, arranged "hundreds" of deals in areas including Newcastle and Durham, many of which were carried out by William Offer, 30, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

The operation was busted when Offer, who had travelled north from his home in London to work as a cocaine and cannabis courier, was caught by police making a deal from a car.

Both men admitted offences including being concerned in the supply of drugs, with Malachi, from Manchester, jailed for four years and Offer for two years suspended for two years with 250 hours unpaid work.

Police correctly suspected a drug deal had just been carried out when they saw a man being handed a package from a parked Skoda Superb in Grosvenor Road, Jesmond, on the evening of 13 March 2022, prosecutor Joe Culley said.

The driver of the car was Offer who was arrested and searched at the scene.

Suspect at large

In the vehicle, which had been hired a month earlier from a rental firm in Cramlington by another man, officers found cocaine, MDMA, amphetamine, cannabis and ketamine, Mr Culley said.

They also found further drugs in his underwear during a strip search at the police station, the court heard.

Inquiries with the rental firm led to the man who hired the car, who was also charged but is still at large after failing to attend an earlier court appearance, and Jamieson, who was playing a "leading role in orchestrating and facilitating the supply of large quantities of drug", Mr Culley said.

Officers seized multiple phones showing Jamieson, of Orme Close, Manchester, using the Signal app to direct Offer and the other man to complete deals in multiple areas including Newcastle and Durham, the court heard.

When a deal was completed, the couriers would respond with a thumbs up emoji.

'Destructive impact'

In mitigation, the court heard Offer, of Highbury Park in London, had become addicted to Class A drugs and became "embroiled" in dealing when visiting friends in Newcastle, where he had studied at university.

Jamieson, who had a previous conviction for dealing cannabis, cocaine and ketamine for which he got a suspended sentence, was also addicted to drugs, the court was told.

His barrister, Christopher Knox KC, said Jamieson was not the leader of the scheme but would not give any more information to police as his home had previously been attacked.

Recorder David Gordon said drugs had a "profound and destructive impact" on society, fuelling addiction, damage and criminality that "destablise" communities.

He said supplying drugs perpetuated a "cycle of harm and exploitation".