Jailed for drug-dealing in Macclesfield

A member of the ‘Manc Jack’ county lines drug-dealer team has been jailed.

Ciaran Laurie appeared at Chester Crown Court on Friday 12 July where he was jailed for three and a half years.

The 23-year-old, of Edward Road, Manchester, had earlier pleaded guilty to two counts of possession with intent to supply class A drugs (heroin and crack cocaine) and two counts of being concerned in the supply of class A drugs (heroin and crack cocaine).

The case against him began when police accessed a mobile phone number, used to sell illegal drugs in the Macclesfield area.

The phone was sending out ‘flare’ messages from Manchester before being tracked to Macclesfield, where drugs were being sold.

On 13th March police stopped an Audi A6 on London Road, Macclesfield. As a result of the driver and passenger’s behaviour the pair were arrested and the car searched.

Laurie admitted to having drugs secreted in his underpants, and two packages containing numerous wraps of white and brown powder were retrieved.

During a search of the vehicle, a mobile phone, a sim card and a number of other wraps of class A and B drugs were found,

164 wraps of heroin and crack cocaine, with an estimated street value of £1,670, were recovered.

The phone seized from Laurie was the number which was being used by the ‘Manc Jack’ county lines team to sell drugs in Macclesfield.

Laurie refused to answer questions but he was later charged with drugs offences.

Following the sentencing, Detective Inspector Rob Balfour, of the Serious and Organised Crime Unit at Cheshire Police said:

“I welcome the sentence handed to Laurie and I hope that it acts as a warning to any other Manchester drug dealers who are thinking about coming over the border to Cheshire.

“Like Laurie has now discovered, here at Cheshire police we’re committed to doing all we can to stop drug activity on our streets by making the county an extremely hostile place for criminals.

“Illegal drugs can have a devastating impact on not only drug users, but the community around them.

“We will always act on any information about drug activity provided to us and would urge anyone who believes this activity is happening near to them to please contact us on 101 or visit www.cheshire.police.uk/tell-us .”