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Guildford Proves to Be the End of the ‘County Line’ for London Drug Dealer

Published on: 3 Jan, 2023
Updated on: 6 Jan, 2023

Javan Restal Photo Surrey Police

A Guildford Crown Court case has revealed how an attempt to set up a “county line” to supply drugs to the town was nipped in the bud.

On the afternoon of Friday, September 9, Javan Restal travelled from London to Guildford where he quickly began to set up a distribution chain.

The National Crime Agency describes “county lines” as criminal activity where illegal drugs are transported from one area to another, often across police and local authority boundaries, usually by children or vulnerable people who are coerced into it by gangs. The “county line” is the mobile phone line used to take the orders of drugs.

But just three days after his journey to Guildford Restal was stopped by police officers after they received information that he had been seen dealing drugs. He was searched under the Misuse of Drugs Act and subsequently arrested.

Restal, 29, from Sydenham in South East London, had two phones in his possession. An examination of phone records showed that on September 9 he had sent out messages about the “DAN DAN” drug line starting up in Guildford. Further messages revealed Restal had also been involved in county lines drug dealing in Northampton earlier in the year.

He appeared in court on Friday, December 23 after pleading guilty to being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs. He was sentenced to three years and four months’ imprisonment and fined £190.

PC David Oliver, who investigated the case, said: “We stopped Restal only a matter days after he arrived in Guildford, preventing his behaviour from having a significant impact on our local communities.

“Proactive police work to tackle county lines goes on across Surrey and if you have concerns about drugs in your area, we’d urge you to get in touch.”

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