Eight men behind a West Midlands drugs gang that operated a 20-hour-a-day heroin and cocaine line for more than two years have been jailed for a combined total of over 60 years. The sentences were handed down at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Wednesday, September 16, after the gang was brought down by undercover police officers who carried out 'test purchases'.
Two-year drug line operation
The gang, led by Quarnay Lee-Taylor, Bradley Whatmore, Zuhayb Abdi, Asa Mcintosh, Rees Macdonald, Waqas Hussain and Hakeem Ali, ran the drug line across Birmingham and the Black Country. Bulk advertising messages were sent from two mobile phones, which received 'thousands' of messages from customers seeking heroin and cocaine.
Wolverhampton Crown Court heard that a total of 18.5kg of class A drugs were pumped onto the streets of the West Midlands via the drug line. The operation ran 'seven days a week', with dealers working 'on average 20 hours a day' across three shifts.
Kidnapping and sentencing
Macdonald and an eighth man, Steven Bunce, also kidnapped a drug addict who owed money and dumped him in the street naked. Drugs were dealt in Smethwick, Sandwell, Wednesbury, Walsall and Birmingham, the court heard.
All eight defendants were sentenced at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Wednesday, September 16. Lee-Taylor, 25, of Lilac Grove, Wednesbury, admitted two counts of conspiracy to supply controlled drugs of class A cocaine and diamorphine and was jailed for 12 years and seven months. Whatmore, 25, of Stonehouse Crescent, Wednesbury, admitted two counts of conspiracy to supply class A drugs and two counts of possessing class B cannabis with intent, receiving 10 and a half years.
Consecutive sentences for repeat offenders
Abdi, 30, currently in prison, admitted two counts of conspiracy to supply class A drugs and received seven years, running consecutively to the 19-year extended sentence he is already serving for causing grievous bodily harm with intent. Mcintosh, 21, of Foley Street, Wednesbury, admitted two counts of conspiracy to supply class A drugs and was jailed for nine years and nine months.
Macdonald, 31, currently in prison, admitted two counts of conspiracy to supply class A drugs and one count of kidnapping, receiving six years consecutively to his existing 18-year extended sentence for grievous bodily harm with intent. Hussain, 27, formerly of Wells Avenue, Darlaston, admitted two counts of conspiracy to supply class A drugs and received five years consecutively to his current 18 and a half-year extended sentence for the same offence.
Final sentences and rehabilitation orders
Ali, 24, of Jasmine Way, Darlaston, admitted two counts of conspiracy to supply class A drugs and was jailed for 10 years and five months. Bunce, 22, of Ingot Close, Walsall, admitted kidnapping committed on November 23, 2023, and was handed an 18-month sentence, suspended for two years, with a 35-day rehabilitation activity requirement and 120 hours of unpaid work.
The combined sentences exceed 60 years, reflecting the scale and duration of the operation that flooded West Midlands streets with class A drugs.
