Birmingham drug dealer who ran county lines network jailed

Aaqib Ali was jailed for 10 years at Birmingham Crown Court

A dealer has been jailed for operating a county lines network supplying drugs in Birmingham and Warwickshire.

West Midlands Police said Aaqib Ali was the "key player" in supplying cocaine and heroin.

The 29-year-old was sentenced to 10 years at Birmingham Crown Court on 23 December, after admitting two charges of supplying Class A drugs.

The force said there was "no doubt Ali was the one running this significant drugs supply chain".

County lines gangs are urban drug dealers who sell to customers in more rural areas.

West Midlands Police said its Regional Organised Crime Unit had executed warrants at two Birmingham addresses linked to Ali, in Aston and Erdington, in August.

There, it said, officers had recovered Class A drugs along with £20,000 in cash and his phone.

'Crush his network'

A substantial amount of cocaine and heroin was also found in his car.

Analysis of Ali's mobile phone, the force said, showed it had been registered in a false name, with messages showing he was running a drugs network.

They included one which claimed he was making the equivalent of £2,800 a night from selling cocaine alone.

Det Con Louise Ford said messages showed Ali, of Jardine Road, Aston, was the "kingpin", co-ordinating the drugs supply chain.

"We're confident we've managed to crush his network and remove a prominent drug dealer from our streets," she said.