Norwich man who ran county line has been sentenced

A man has been sentenced to three years in prison for running a county line in Norwich.

Carl Thomas, 38, of Kett’s Hill, Norwich appeared at Norwich Crown Court on 19 February 2025, after pleading guilty to two counts of concerned in the supply of Class A (crack cocaine and methadone), concerned in the supply of Class B (cannabis) and concerned in the supply of Class C (pregabalin).

This follows a warrant that was conducted on Thursday 16 January 2025 at a property on Kett’s Hill, where officers seized a mobile phone and arrested Thomas.

Investigations identified Thomas as the main holder of the line and showed that he'd been suppling crack cocaine, pregabalin, methadone and cannabis in Norwich between 10 October 2024 and 17 January 2025.

Two mobile numbers were identified by officers and used by Thomas to send out bulk text messages to multiple drug users.

One of the messages sent read, 'GOT W GOT PREGABS AND A BRAND NEW NOKIA C32 MOBILE IN THE BOX SHOUT ME' and when responding to a request to obtain methadone or heroin to a drug user he replied 'YEH CAN GET U 100MIL FOR A TENNER BRO'.

Following his arrest, Thomas was later charged and remanded into custody by the court.

Thomas later appeared at Norwich Crown Court 19 February 2025 and was sentenced to three years in prison and was ordered to pay surcharge costs of £228.

Investigating officer, PC Phil Mercer from the Neighbourhood Policing Team said: “Drugs have a big impact on people in our communities, therefore, we will continue to work hard to disrupt the production and sales of drugs and target those people who sell drugs in Norwich and across Norfolk.”