Prolific county lines dealer jailed

A drug dealer who ran a prolific county line in Woking has been jailed.

Lukeny De Lemos, 23 (date of birth 6/4/1999), of no fixed address, was sentenced after pleading guilty to a string of drugs and weapon offences at Guildford Crown Court last Wednesday (28 September).

Woking’s Neighbourhood Team began an investigation into drug dealing in the local area in 2020. Through intelligence, they traced that the ‘Panda’ county line was operating in Woking.

The line was later linked to De Lemos, who was thought to be bringing class A drugs from London into Woking between September 2020 and March 2021. A warrant was issued for his arrest.

The team didn’t have to wait for long before he was located by officers from the British Transport Police who noticed him behaving suspiciously at a ticket barrier in Waterloo train station in March 2021.

He was detained and found to be in possession of a machete, flick knife and a quantity of crack cocaine and heroin.

After being interviewed by Woking’s Neighbourhood Team, De Lemos was charged with two counts of possession with intent to supply class A drugs, two counts of being concerned in the supply of class A drugs, two counts of possession of an offensive weapon and a string of driving offences from an earlier incident.

Phone work later showed that De Lemos’ personal and burner phone, which he used to deal drugs for the Panda line from, travelled between Greenwich and Woking consistently between September 2020 and January 2021.

De Lemos was sentenced to four years and four months’ imprisonment.

Police Constable Iona King who investigated the case, said: “County lines are a blight on our communities and the ripple effect is felt far and wide, particularly by the most vulnerable.

“I’m incredibly proud of the proactive work undertaken by both my team and the British Transport Police which resulted in a dangerous offender being taken off of our streets.”

Detective Inspector Amy Perry, of BTP’s County Lines Taskforce, said: “I am pleased to see another drug supplier jailed following successful partnership work with our colleagues at Surrey Police.

“Our teams are on the railway every day, in plain clothes and uniform and often with specialist resources such as drugs dogs. Alongside our police partners we are pursuing county lines offenders and putting them before the courts.

“Anyone that spots the signs of this activity on the railway can report it to us either by discreetly texting 61016 or by calling 0800 40 50 40.”