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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
National
Joe Thomas

Police hail end of smuggling line after uncle and his nephew busted on drugs run

Police shut down a family-run drug smuggling route into Wales after swooping on a man and his nephew.

Kenneth and Michael Harbourne were stopped by officers in July as they drove heroin and crack cocaine into South Wales.

Both have now been locked up, with police hailing the bust as a significant step in the fight against drugs gangs.

The pair were stopped while driving on a main road into Llanelli on July 24.

It was their third drugs run, using an identical car and route, within three days, reported Wales Online.

Both men were charged with possession with intention to supply Class A drugs, and remanded in to custody.

They admitted the offences and were sentenced at Swansea Crown Court last week.


Michael Harbourne, 27 and of Catherine Way in Newton-le-Willows, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison.

His uncle, Kenneth Harbourne, 37 and of Lee Street in St Helen s, was sentenced to two years and eight months.

Detectives said the swoop amounted to the closure of a County Line - a drug smuggling operation that is run from a distance by a big city gang.

Detective Inspector Rhys Jones, of Dyfed-Powys Police, said: “It takes an extraordinary team effort to shut down an entire county line, and I have to thank the many departments who were involved in this investigation.

“While organised criminal gangs continue trying to supply drugs in our towns, we will continue rising to the challenge.

“We will target anyone pushing these devastating substances into our communities, but we can’t do it alone."

 
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