A COCAINE network which preyed on the addiction of its users to spread into Swindon has been jailed for almost six decades after police exposed rungs of a conspiracy extending to London and Portsmouth.

Using an abandoned house in Drakes Way to store and prepare poor quality cocaine, cut to a purity of less than 10 per cent, local addicts stepped in to help conceal and distribute the haul.

Couriers would travel by taxi or train with often weekly deliveries of up to a kilogram of cocaine between July 2013 and April 2014, as officers tracked their movements and pieced together the phone network.

Darren Lazarus, 34, would orchestrate the movements using his supply network in Swindon and the contacts of Albanian-born Judmir Shazivari, 40, who he had met in prison.

Even after police arrested a swathe of those involved in December 2013, the network changed up their phones, selected new couriers, and recruited more dealers.

Robin Shellard, prosecuting, said the trial of Lazarus and Shazivari was the most difficult case he had ever put before a jury.

"Lazarus would facilitate the supply of drugs using agents and couriers including Olsi Bilaci, and agents from London using Shazivari's Albanian contacts," he said.

"Lazarus would contact Shazivari, who would contact a third party, known as 'Logistics'. The courier would then travel to Swindon by taxi or private hire car. They would call customers local to Swindon and arrangements would be made. Couriers would deliver drugs or collect money, sometimes both.

"[A home] in Drake's Way was a property rented by Tyrone Harman, but was not lived in due to its poor state of repair. The premises would be used to store and bag up drugs after they were delivered, pre-cut, from London.

"They used un-subscribed pre-paid phones, which were changed regularly, to contact each other. Lazarus would contact customers in Swindon using prescribed numbers, then change to un-prescribed."

Police shadowed dozens of drugs runs in order to trace the input of Lazarus, who would never touch the drugs himself.

On November 19, Stacey Hayward and Amy Brown came to Swindon to collect money from Packer, with considerable phone contact between all parties ending with a meeting in Tesco's car park.

Police stopped them on November 21, seizing £25,490 in cash in several carrier bags.

"This was money intended for Lazarus, given the phone calls from him to all parties following the arrests," added Mr Shellard.

Drakes Way was searched on December 19 with various stashes of cocaine found, the largest being 995 grams, and a bag containing £12,970.

Police moved on the main players in April 2014, with Lazarus found in possession of £1,910 with a further £370 in his kitchen.

Phones were found which linked him to others in the gang and despite having no legitimate source of income, owned a £40,000 car which he was paying off at £1,000 a month.

At Shazivari’s house, 15 mobile phones were found and links to others in the case were discovered when the phones were analysed. A total of £1,600 in £50 notes was also found plus another £1,080 stored elsewhere.

Lazarus has 17 convictions for 57 offences, including possession with intent to supply of heroin, and a four year sentence in 2006 for possession with intent to supply of cocaine and heroin.

Albanian born Shazivari has five convictions for seven offences, and was given six years in prison in 2010.

His Honour Judge Martin Picton, sentencing, said: "This was a sophisticated and determined enterprise.

"On one hand Judmir Shazivari knew criminals with drugs for sale, and Darren Lazarus knew people in Swindon prepared to buy drugs, bringing misery to users in the town. That is exactly what happened.

"Those profiting from this conspiracy were not even deterred by arrests police were able to make. In order for them to bring the conspiracy to an end, officers had to engage in a difficult and demanding inquiry.

"Darren Lazarus, it's quite clear drug dealing has been your life and living for many years, and you are a professional criminal. You chose to play high stakes and did so with your eyes open to the consequences.

"Judmir Shazivari, you entered this country illegally, and persisted in your efforts to remain.

"I have no idea why you were not deported after your last sentence, and you continued to abuse your position in this country. I am hoping on this occasion the authorities manage to effect your removal from the UK."

Lazarus was given 16 years, Shazivari 14 years, Jordan Packer, 28, and Zak Knight, 27, six years each, Christopher Smith, 28, five years and four months, Alex Scotford, 32, four years and eight months, Thomas Price, 26, three years and eight months, and Ben Blackmore, 25, three years.

Bilaci, 34, was sentenced to four and a half years at Cardiff Crown Court for possession of heroin with intent to supply.

Tyron Harman, 28, received an 18 month community order for allowing his home address to be used for drugs supply, while Hayward and Brown 34, from Potters Bar, will both be sentenced on September 8 and 9.

Lazarus and Shazivari will be subject to a serious crime prevention order for five years upon their release.

After sentencing, Detective Inspector Mark Luffman said: "The difficulty in this case was in particular that Lazarus was very much hands-off the drugs. He was living in Potters Bar, wasn't doing drug runs himself, and wasn't collecting money himself.

"We received intelligence from the community that he was still actively involved in the drug supply in Swindon, so he was our number one priority from the start.

"We had to implicate him in the conspiracy when he was very remote. In particular we would identify phones we suspected him to be using, and even though he was changing phones once or twice a week, we were able to attribute those to him.

"It was such a long operation because we needed to prove the system he was employing.

"We had to identify the couriers coming to Swindon, and while we weren't aware of every visit, we worked hard to exploit the times we knew they were arriving, and from that, implicate others in the conspiracy.

"Lazarus is a career criminal, and 16 years is a long time for him to consider his future. One can only hope he has finally learned his lesson.

"He thought he was safe being so remote from handling the commodities, but that just made it more of a challenge for us and the team who worked so resolutely. If he had gone unchecked, he would still be dealing now.

"I am very proud a small force like ours with limited resources can put together such an admirable case, but that is only achieved through the hard work carried out by our team.

“Today’s sentencing, which totals almost 59 years imprisonment, marks the culmination of months of hard work by my officers in a major covert operation involving detailed mobile phone call data analysis and hours of undercover surveillance on the couriers and dealers once they reached Swindon.

“No stone will go unturned to catch those who profit from illegal activity, often at the expense of others, and causing misery to many. We will do everything we can to ensure justice is done, as today’s sentencing proves.

“Much of the intelligence received in this case came from members of the community therefore we cannot stress enough, the importance of reporting any suspicious behaviour in your neighbourhood. Please call 101, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 where information can be left anonymously if preferred.”

This Is Wiltshire:

Thomas Price has been jailed for three years and eight months

This Is Wiltshire:

Ben Blackmore has been jailed for three years

This Is Wiltshire:

Olsi Blacci pleaded guilty in 2013 and is serving a four and a half year jail term