Luton brothers who ran a 'lucrative drug dealing business' sent to prison

Two brothers from Luton have been jailed for a total of 11 years for their part in a lucrative drug dealing business, in which they recruited a teenager to do the running on their behalf.

Jamie Redmond, 26, and his younger brother Cody Redmond, 23, pleaded guilty to a number of offences, including possessing and conspiring to supply both Class A and Class B drugs.

On the evening of October 19, 2019, police officers from Bedfordshire Police were on patrol in the Lewsey Farm area of Luton and spotted Cody on a push bike before he headed into a block of flats.

Suspecting that he may have been dealing drugs, the officers waited until he left the building and then proceeded to follow him to a nearby alleyway where he tried to hide.

After he was detained, officers searched him and found multiple individual deals of cannabis, a set of scales and a dismantled mobile phone, which had its SIM card still intact.

He was arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply cannabis and taken into police custody where further drugs, including MDMA and cocaine, were found hidden on his person.

The next day, a warrant was carried out at an address in Luton that was connected to Cody and when officers entered the premises, they found his older brother Jamie in one of the bedrooms.

Whilst searching the house, officers discovered a large amount of drugs, including cannabis, MDMA, crack cocaine and heroin, along with cannabis plants, unused deal bags, a set of scales, three different styles of knives, a number of mobile phones and a large amount of cash.

There was even a number of items concealed behind a fence panel in the back garden.

Jamie was also arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply cannabis, whilst Cody was further arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs.

After being questioned in police custody, they were both released under investigation whilst the drugs and mobile phones were analysed.

On October 28, Cody was spotted again acting suspiciously by officers patrolling Lewsey Farm.

When he was stopped, he was found to be in possession of multiple bags of cannabis and a mobile phone with messages on it linked to drug dealing. He was arrested again but denied the drugs or the phone belonged to him.

Police then received further information that Jamie was using a different address in Luton to store drugs and deal from.

A warrant was carried out and Jamie was further arrested after large amounts of cannabis were found, as well as a number of mobile phones.

Both were eventually charged with a number of offences, including conspiracy to supply Class B drugs, possession with intent to supply Class A and Class B drugs and being concerned with the supply of Class B drugs.

On Friday, September 10, at Luton Crown Court, Cody Redmond, of Leagrave High Street, was jailed for a total of five years and nine months.

Jamie Redmond, also of Leagrave High Street, Luton, was jailed for a total of five years and three months.

A teenage boy, who was arrested when it was found that he had been working for both Cody and Jamie, was handed a six-month referral order.

Bedfordshire Police Investigation Officer Gary Hales said: “Drugs are very much the driving factor in so much of the violence and anti-social behaviour that blights our local communities, and the result of this investigation shows the hard work we are doing to eradicate drugs from the streets of Bedfordshire.

“These two brothers were running a very lucrative drug dealing business and an aggravating feature of their crimes was the use of children to act as street dealers for them.

"I’m pleased they are now behind bars and no longer able to peddle their wares, exploit children and cause further harm to vulnerable people.

“We are seeing organised criminal gangs using drugs as their main source of income, and growing and selling cannabis is a key part of this business model. It is relatively cheap to produce and there are thousands of customers in Bedfordshire alone to sell to.

“These gangs deliberately recruit and exploit young and vulnerable people into dealing the Class B drug. They are then using the returns to fund the supply of Class A drugs, which is in turn linked to other forms of organised crime such as firearms trafficking, money laundering, modern slavery, exploitation and human trafficking.

“Tackling drug dealing and criminal exploitation is everyone's business and it is important for our communities to work with us by continuing to report any information or suspicious behaviour.”

If you have any information, you can report drug dealing or other crime online or by calling 101.

All these reports are fed into police intelligence systems and can help officers build up a picture of organised crime in the county.

If you wish to remain anonymous you can contact Crimestoppers by calling 0800 555 111.

For more information on child criminal exploitation and how to spot the signs, visit the Bedfordshire Against Exploitation and Violence website.