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| Josh Ashton (right) was the "ringleader" supplying Doncaster communities with heroin and cocaine, police said |
A gang that "flooded" three cities with heroin and cocaine was charged over 14 years.
leader Josh Ashton and "operators" Logan Day, Billy Alexander and Adie Cliff operated a "ring and supply" ring that took drugs and Conisbrough, Denaby and Mexborough, near Doncaster. The "Ash Line" service has a number that customers can contact if they want their medicine delivered. Alexander and Cliff were arrested by South Yorkshire Police last November and sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court on July 19.
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| Billy Alexander (L) and Adie Cliff (R) were also jailed for their part in the Doncaster drugs gang |
Complex case
Body cameras captured Cliff fleeing police from a taxi in Mexborough, discarding a mobile phone and white powder believed to be cocaine, police said.
The 22-year-old man was arrested in the field and taken to prison. Cliff, of Woodlands Way, Denaby Main, was jailed for three years and four months after pleading guilty to supplying heroin and cocaine.
Day, 27, of Athelstane Road, Conisbrough, was jailed for the same offence. Alexander, 21, of Cadeby Avenue, Conisbrough, was jailed for three years after admitting possession with intent to supply heroin and crack cocaine, supplying Class A drugs and possession of cannabis.
Ashton, 20, of Parkgate Avenue, Conisbrough, was jailed for four years and eight months for two counts of supplying heroin.
The sentence was part of Operation Dream Alpha, an investigation into street trafficking in Doncaster. Police Sergeant Rachael Smith of said the case was "very serious".
"Ashton is the bully who pulled the strings on this drug ring," he said.
"He took on various people selling heroin and cocaine on the streets of Doncaster and we are pleased that he and three other defendants have been sentenced to rigorous imprisonment."
The army said the use of drugs to supply drugs was linked to organized crime groups trying to gain control of the area in Doncaster through violence or intimidation.
Ms Smith said the sentences were for disrupting supply lines, which prevented drugs from entering the country.
