Dealers Raymond Heather (right) and his partner Tracey McCarthy were convicted of conspiracy to supply cocaine

by Keith Hunt

Three men and a woman convicted of involvement in a major drug trafficking chain centred on a Kent farm have been jailed for a total of 24 years today.

Ty Ripley, of Fairmeadow Farm, in Bredgar, Sittingbourne, was sentenced to six-and-a-half years after being found guilty of assisting in the supply of drugs and possessing Class C drugs with intent to supply.

Omar Sadique, 29, who supplied the cutting agents to Ripley, 40, and ran a prolific business on a national scale, was sentenced to eight years after being convicted of assisting in the supply of Class A drugs and conspiracy to supply cocaine.

Raymond Heather, 52, who had a caravan in Whitstable, was jailed for six years and his partner Tracey McCarthy, 50, to three-and-a-half years after they were convicted of conspiracy to supply cocaine.

Omar Sadique (left) supplied chemicals to Ty Ripley

Judge Jeremy Gold QC told Sadique: "You and others have to understand that the proliferation of these drugs is a cancer in our society and you have played a prominent part in the supply."

Ripley; Sadique, of Kimberworth, Rotherham, South Yorkshire; Heather, of Lambeth, south east London; and McCarthy, of Rotherhithe, south east London, denied the charges.

Steven Franks, 61, of Walton, Essex, and Zakir Hussain, 29, of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, denied assisting in the supply of controlled drugs and were cleared.

Andrew Rankin, 53, and his son Stuart Rankin, both of Bethnal Green, east London, and Lynn Cooper, 48, of Ilford, Essex, denied conspiracy to supply cocaine and were cleared.

An aerial shot of Ty Ripley's farm, in Bredgar, which was used to store barrels of cutting agents and chemicals to bulk out drugs.

Maidstone Crown Court heard Ripley stored chemicals in a clock tower at the farm and was "at the very hub" of the case as a regional distributor of cutting agents used to bulk out drugs.

Judge Gold said Ripley was running a regional distribution centre from his home at the farm for chemicals used as cutting agents.

"You had substantial quantities of chemicals in stock when police searched the farm in February 2010," he continued. "You were also an important link in the chain of supply of Class A and B drugs.

"I very much regret the effect your imprisonment will have on your children. I have read a number of references that make it clear there are positive aspects to your character."

The convictions follow a three-year investigation by the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate.

Assistant Chief Constable Gary Beautridge said: "The defendants worked as a highly-organised criminal group controlled by Sadique. He may have been the one in charge but each of these defendants had a part to play in the supply of Class A drugs in this country through varied, significant and organised roles.

"During our investigations, a clear picture emerged of a chain leading from the supply of cutting agents to the bulking out of high purity drugs and then on to the supply of controlled drugs themselves."