it is believed that she was discarding Class A drugs.
Henna Ashraf, aged 25, of Birmingham, has been convicted for running a county lines drug operation on her own.
She boasted about her luxury lifestyle, including £500 haircuts in Knightsbridge.
Ashraf also took pictures inside her Mercedes and posted photos of bundles of cash on social media.
Police said Ashraf is the first female drug dealer to be convicted of running a county lines operation on her own in the West Midlands.
She is also believed to be one of the first women in the UK to be convicted of running a county lines operation.
Ashraf funded her luxury lifestyle by selling Class A drugs in Torquay.
She was operating the ‘Mase Line’ from Birmingham all the way down to Torquay.
The drugs ‘Queenpin’ was caught when she was pulled over while driving down the M5 on December 9, 2020.
Ashraf panicked and was then seen throwing an object out.
Although the item was never recovered, it is believed that she was discarding Class A drugs.
When Ashraf eventually pulled over, she gave officers false details of her mother’s name, to begin with.
In her car, police found a damaged Nokia mobile phone folded in half and wedged between the seats in an attempt to destroy potential evidence.
But despite Ashraf’s efforts to destroy the phone, the IMEI was still visible and was tracked as the relevant mobile involved in the ‘Mase Line’.
She was arrested and taken into custody.
Police launched an investigation and found that the phone had been in use since at least August 14, 2020, until December 9, the same year.
Police obtained text messages from the phone.
Describing heroin and crack cocaine, one message read:
“Best both deals cal now fat bits.”
This message was sent late at night to 40 separate contacts on October 7, 2020.
Other messages referring to deals were also sent including “On now best of both cal now deals” while other messages were sent revealing the unique Mase branding of the drugs line including “On with both cal now fat bits deals mase line”.
Police were “left in no doubt” that these messages were advertising Class A drugs, heroin and crack cocaine for sale and after searching her bedroom, they found a further phone also containing messages of a similar nature.
Officers who looked through her personal phone saw she had sent several Snapchat messages boasting about her successful life as a county lines drugs boss including pictures of bundles of cash she had made from her criminal gains.
Following a trial at Birmingham Crown Court, Ashraf was convicted of “being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin”.
She will be sentenced on December 20, 2022.
Detective Superintendent Syed Hussain, West Midlands Police lead for County Lines, said:
“County Lines gangs should know they are in our sights and our work goes on 24/7 throughout the year to stop them.”
“Ashraf was unusual in being a lone woman heading a County Lines drugs operation and we are delighted to have worked with our colleagues at Avon and Somerset Police to put an end to this drugs line and secure a successful conviction at court.
“Communities are left destroyed by County Lines and we are determined to stop people like Ashraf from profiting from the misery of others.
“We work with a raft of partners and local authorities as well as charities and we try to raise awareness of the general public so that they can become more aware of the dangers associated with County Lines and exploitation.”
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