Bristol Man jailed for £1.1m Cocaine Operation

Aaron Rafique, aged 30, of Bishopston, Bristol, was jailed for five years and five months after police found packaging for £1.1 million worth of cocaine inside a Jaguar.

He was part of a gang that operated in Bristol.

It was heard that Aaron Jefferies led the criminal operation while Rafique acted as a middle man.

Also involved in the gang were Robbie Shore and Connor Forrester.

Both Jefferies and Rafique were arrested at their homes on November 14, 2019.

Officers searched Jefferies’ car and found packaging from at least 38 separate 1kg blocks of cocaine, worth £1.1 million.

Also in the car was a plastic bag containing 188g of cocaine, worth £14,000, a green rucksack with a further 9.5g of cocaine inside, eight sandwich bags each containing 1oz of cannabis, an imitation firearm, a truncheon, a small lock knife, and a sports bag with three sets of scales and three knives.

Three months earlier, officers from South West Complex Casework Unit watched a meeting take place in Jefferies’ Range Rover in Melksham between him and Shore.

A warrant at a nearby flat on Sangster Avenue led to Shore being arrested and Forrester trying to escape.

As he ran, he discarded £4,000 worth of cocaine, with £300 worth later found in his pockets.

Forrester’s home on Meadow Road, Melksham, was searched and £14,000 worth of cocaine, four mobile phones and scales were seized.

Shore had been using Forrester’s home to store the drugs in an attempt to avoid being caught.

Jefferies, aged 31, of Barrs Court, was jailed for 11 years for conspiracy to supply cocaine and possession with intent to supply cocaine.

Rafique, aged 30, of Bishopston, was jailed for five years and five months.

Both men were also found guilty of conspiracy to produce cannabis after police found a cannabis grow at a flat in Stokes Croft.

Shore, aged 25, of Melksham, was jailed for six-and-a-half years.

Forrester, aged 25, of Melksham, received a suspended two-year sentence and 300 hours of community service.

Detective Inspector Charlotte Tucker from the SW ROCU said:

“This group was organising the supply of cocaine on a commercial scale in Wiltshire and beyond.

“Aaron Jefferies was top of their group, but we all know the harm going on further down the chain.

“It’s purely about money for them, but for others, it’s exploitation, fear, violence and crime-funded drug use.”

“The impact of organised crime is felt by everyone.

“The sentences handed down reflect the level of their involvement in organised crime.

“We will now continue to work with the CPS to ensure it’s not just their freedom that has been taken away, but also the luxury assets their crime has funded.”

Ann Hampshire from the South West Complex Casework Unit, said:

“We supported this successful complex investigation led by our colleagues at the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit.

“The defendants, in this case, sought to profit from the misery that illegal drugs bring to communities in the South West.

“We work closely with specialist officers to target, dismantle and disrupt organised crime groups and the sentences imposed today reflect the serious consequences for those engaged in this type of criminality.

“Our work does not end today. We are determined to ensure that any assets that this group acquired through their criminality are confiscated.”