A 35-year-old man who controlled the supply of Class A drugs through county lines has been jailed.

Michael Mayes, of Bengal Road in Ramsgate, appeared before Ipswich Crown Court, where he was sentenced to four years and three months imprisonment.

Mayes had previously pleaded guilty to being concerned with the supply of crack cocaine, the supply of heroin, and money laundering.

Following an investigation, Mayes was identified as the person running a county line through Suffolk called ‘Rockstar’.

In early May 2021, a known drug user was arrested in Ipswich for an unrelated matter and their phone was seized.

Analysis of the phone found a number of messages had been received in the typical style of those sent by county lines operations offering drugs for sale, linked to a particular number calling itself ‘Rockstar’.

Over the next four months, further arrests and phone seizures provided more evidence of the ‘Rockstar’ line operating in Ipswich.

On 20 September 2021, officers executed a warrant under the Misuse of Drugs Act at an address in Station Street, Ipswich.

Mayes was one of the people found at the address and had £1,200 hidden in a trainer.

Class A drugs were also located within the premises.

Mayes was located in a bedroom of the property and two mobile phones were also found in the room.

These were found to be the numbers most recently sending messages offering drugs for sale from ‘Rockstar’.

Earlier that month, on September 1, Kent Police had cause to attend an address in Margate where Mayes had previously lived.

Here they seized three phones, one of which was found to have been used to send earlier messages from the ‘Rockstar’ line.

DS Vince Grimsey, of the Serious Crime Disruption Team, said: “Over the course of several months and primarily through detailed mobile phone analysis, we were able to undeniably prove that Michael Mayes was controlling the County Line identified as ‘Rockstar’.

“We are pleased to have removed another county line from the streets of Suffolk.

“People such as Mayes prey on predominantly vulnerable people and are a blight on society.

“I welcome the sentence handed down to him by the court which reflects the seriousness of his crimes.”