A DEALER who took over the home of a vulnerable man to use as a drug base has been jailed.

Ahmed Ozyoruk was running the ‘Ace’ county drugs line, which was supplying Class A drugs in Essex.

The line was responsible for sending out bulk messages advertising the sale of heroin and crack cocaine in the town.

Officers from Essex Police’s Op Raptor North team launched an investigation into the line in January.

Throughout the investigation, officers were able to prove Ozyoruk was with the line phone on more than 200 occasions, including in Essex, London and Bedfordshire. 

Ozyoruk, who was known to some as ‘Ace’, was arrested after concerns had been raised for a vulnerable man living in Braintree.

Officers suspected the man was being taken advantage of and attended his address to carry our check to make sure he was ok, and during that check, two men – one of who was Ozyoruk – were found to be at the address and appeared much younger than the tenant. 

A short time later, an officer located a burner-style mobile phone which we were able to link to the drugs line – the same number which we knew Ozyoruk had been with on more than 200 occasions. 

It was seized and both men were arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs.

Ozyoruk, 22, of no fixed address, answered no comment during interviews and was subsequently charged with two counts of being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs.

He admitted the offences at Chelmsford Crown Court and was sentenced to six years and six months in prison; the starting point for his sentence was seven years in custody because he had two previous convictions for drug offences.

The second man arrested remains released under investigation. 

Leader of the investigation Detective Constable Jonathan Stephenson said: “This was Ozyoruk’s third strike and the sentence handed to him reflects the severity of his offending.

“Unfortunately for him, by the time he was arrested, we had already built a case against him which ultimately meant he had very little option but to admit the charges levelled against him and accept his sentence. “