Two more members of Grantham drugs gang jailed for flooding town with heroin and cocaine

Two members of a drugs gang which supplied over £350,000 worth of cocaine and heroin into Grantham have been jailed at Lincoln Crown Court.

Berkay Rakici and David George both acted as couriers bringing in drugs from London and Luton.

Rakici, 24, of Stockton Road, Edmonton, North London, was jailed for four-and-a-half years.

George, 27, of Peregrine Road, Luton, was jailed for three years.

Both men denied charges of conspiracy to supply cocaine and heroin on dates between March 6, 2015 and November 4, 2015.

Nine other gang members received jail sentences totalling 40 years at a hearing last week.

The court heard that couriers used by the gang made over 70 trips from the south of England to bring cocaine and heroin during an eight month period.

Faye Mellor, prosecuting, said that both Rakici and George were recruited to assist in transporting drugs after other couriers were arrested.

She told the court that Rakici made 10 trips to Lincolnshire and on each occasion he was either accompanied by Jordan McGlann or delivering drugs to McGlann.

An earlier hearing was told that McGlann was “the right hand man” of Jermaine Francis who headed up the drugs supply operation.

Last week Francis was jailed for six years and McGlann was given six years at a young offenders’ institution.

Miss Mellor said that Rakici, recruited student Dilem Osbahadir, a former girlfriend, as a courier.

David George made two trips from Luton one of which was by train and the other in a hire car.

Miss Mellor said: “He was involved at the very end of the lifespan of the conspiracy in October 2015.”

She said that shortly after the two trips made by George money was paid into the bank account of Paul Cato, another member of the gang and a close family friend of George.

Martin McCarthy, for Rakici, said he became involved through people he met at a gym in Stoke Newington.

“He was recruited by those higher up the chain.”

He said that Rakici has become reconciled with his wife since his arrest but she and their children were evicted from the family home.

They have since been rehoused in a one-bed flat but are seeking a move as a result of threats they have received in connection with the court case.

Saravanak Kumar, for George, suggested that his client had been exploited by Cato who was a much older man.

“There was no financial motivation for this defendant. The evidence is that he was paid with food and petrol.”