Lee Mitchell: Six-and-a-half-year jail sentence for Little Canfield man guilty of conspiracy to supply cocaine

A Little Canfield man who was part of a network supplying cocaine has been jailed for six-and-a-half years.

Lee Mitchell, 45, was arrested in February 2021 following an investigation by Hertfordshire police’s organised crime team.

Evidence gathered during Operation Relentless showed Mitchell bought 750g (26.5oz) of cocaine. He was arrested following a search warrant at his address in the Uttlesford village.

A jury at St Albans Crown Court unanimously found him guilty of conspiracy to supply class A drugs (cocaine). When he returned to the dock for sentencing on Thursday (January 11), he was given six years and six months behind bars.

Mitchell was part of an organised crime group that supplied drugs to the Hertfordshire, Thames Valley, Essex and London areas. In all, 16 members have been jailed for a total of 166 years.

Det Insp Grant Finnie, from Hertfordshire Constabulary’s Operation Relentless team, said: “Successfully dismantling such a significant network will have a big impact on drug use and associated crime within the county.

“This will also send a message to anyone involved in drug dealing that Hertfordshire is a hostile environment for gangs and they will be pursued relentlessly.

“Organised crime groups use violence, supply drugs and commit a whole range of crimes that pose a real threat to the community.

“Operation Relentless is Hertfordshire Constabulary’s response to this ongoing threat. As part of this work, we depend on information from members of the public to help us crack down on drug-related crime. Any information you can provide, no matter how small it may seem, could help us to identify and apprehend drug dealers.”