Man jailed for county lines related drug and firearm offences in North Manchester

A man from north Manchester who was found to be possessing ammunition, a rifle and £10,000's worth of drugs when police executed a warrant at his address in March has been sentenced today (Thursday 26 August, 2021) at Manchester Crown Court.

Jamie Upton, (24/02/1998), was jailed for three years and nine months after he pleaded guilty in June of this year to possession of ammunition and possession of class A and class B drugs.

Officers made the discovery when attending Upton's house on Crammond Close, Newton Heath, on the morning Friday 5 March after intelligence had been received by detectives investigating modern slavery and drugs trafficking in Tameside.

Upton was arrested shortly before 6am and specialist officers searched the property over the course of the next four hours where numerous amounts of evidence were forensically recovered including cocaine, heroin, 17 phones, a rifle and over 16 bullets.

During an interview at Central Park police station, Upton denied the white powder was cocaine before being told that it had tested positive as cocaine. He proceeded to answer 'no comment' thereafter.

He was charged a short time later and on Wednesday 23 June he pleaded guilty to single counts of possession of ammunition and possession of class A and class B drugs, worth approximately £10,000, furthermore he later pleaded guilty to possession of the rifle after it was forensically proven  that it could be fired.

Detective Constable Laura Hughes, of GMP Tameside's Child Criminal Exploitation Team, said: "This is a strong first result as part of Operation Marconi, which is our investigation into the supply of drugs in the Tameside area and the criminal exploitation of vulnerable young people for unscrupulous means.

"While it is satisfying that Jamie Upton will now be behind bars after this case, we are committed to ensure that him and any other suspects as part of this operation will continue to be investigated and where possible prosecuted and convicted.

"The damage that could have been caused by the ammunition, rifle and drugs we seized cannot be understated and quite frankly does not bear thinking about, it is therefore important that Upton has been brought to justice for his crimes and is off the streets, unable to be in possession of such illicit products."