Southend ‘Jay’ drugs line ringleader jailed for five years

Jordan Osbourne-Small, 30, worked in a management role for the ‘Jay’ line, which sent out tens of thousands of bulk messages advertising cocaine to customers.

Basildon Crown Court heard, by a conservative estimate, the line facilitated around 1,700 individual drug deals in the space of just six months between June and December 2022, involving just short of 900g of Class A drugs.

Raid - Wraps of cocaine seized (Image: Essex Police)

This is estimated to have yielded tens of thousands of pounds in criminal profits.

The line operated out of Ilford in east London, with runners working in shifts to sell the harmful Class A substance on the streets of Southend.

Osbourne-Small was caught in the act of preparing wraps of cocaine as his home address in Ilford was raided by police in December 2022.

Drugs along with multiple sets of scales and drug paraphernalia were seized, and a mixing agent dangerous for human consumption was found in a safe at the home.

He had denied conspiring to supply cocaine and possession with intent to supply cocaine but was convicted following a trial at Basildon Crown Court, and was jailed for five years and nine months last Wednesday.

Seized - Drugs found during the raid (Image: Essex Police)

Detective Sergeant Rob Maile, of our Op Raptor team, said: “This lengthy investigation, carried out across a number of months in 2022, has now seen an entire line dismantled from top to bottom.

“Those responsible for directing runners and operating the line from London addresses are not safe from our reach, as cases such as this prove.

“We have teams of experienced officers working around the clock, dedicated solely to cracking these drug supply networks.

“Criminals operating under the impression they can do business in Southend are demonstrably wrong.

“We will catch them and they will be punished with considerable prison sentences.”

Osbourne-Small ran the operation alongside 32-year-old Daniel Mutambo, who previously admitted his role and was jailed for 54 months in December last year.

Other members of the ‘Jay’ line previously faced sentences for their lesser roles in the operation in March last year.