Members of a gang that sold cocaine to 10,000 people in the City of London have been jailed for a combined total of more than two decades.
The group, which was behind a line dubbed “Top Gear” or “City Gear”, were sentenced on Thursday for selling the Class A drug between March 2022 and October 2023.
But the line was initially set up during lockdowns during the pandemic and used the BBC motoring show’s logo on WhatsApp.
City of London Police trolled through phone records to build a case against the gang, who ran one of the largest cocaine dealing operations in the Square Mile.
They sold more than 400 wraps of cocaine per week, which was worth more than £14,000.
At Inner London Crown Court, the gang’s leader Nathan Samuels, 57, of Cornwall Road in Waterloo, Lambeth, was jailed for nine years for the supply of cocaine.
Also sentenced for supplying were Michael Redgrave, 56, also of Cornwall Road, to two years and nine months; Aaron Bretao 43, of Skinner Street in Clerkenwell, Islington, to three years; and Martin Gupta, 38, of Fairgreen Court in Enfield, Barnet, to four years and three months.
Matthew Samuels, 33, of Rotherhithe New Road in Bermondsey,Southwark, admitted possession with intent to supply cannabis and being concerned in the supply of cannabis.
Additionally, Samuels was found guilty of being involved in the supply of cocaine. He was sentenced to three-and-a-half-years in jail.
And Josh Atherton, 24, of Hemingford Road in Barnsbury, Islington was given sentences suspended for two years, of two years for the supply of cocaine and four months for possession of a weapon for the discharge of a noxious liquid.
Detective Constable Matt Cooper said: "This was a serious and sophisticated drug supply operation which would have resulted in large quantities of cocaine being sold over an extended period of time. This was one of the longest running and biggest cocaine lines in the City of London.
"We will continue to work tirelessly to disrupt and tackle serious and organised crime groups and these sentences demonstrate our commitment to putting criminals involved in drug lines and drug supply behind bars."
