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Members of a drugs syndicate have been sentenced to a combined total of over 36 years in prison by Jersey’s Royal Court.
The five men were yesterday sentenced for the parts they played in a number of drugs importations into Jersey in 2022 and 2023.
The conviction follows a lengthy investigation by Jersey Customs & Immigration Service, titled Operation Elf, which saw £270,000 of drugs seized.
Ibrahim Roslan (35) from Liverpool was sentenced to nine years and six months in prison, whilst 33-year-old Aaron Nursaw from Wirral was jailed for nine years.
Jersey-born Michael Quinn (23) was jailed for a total of nine years and six months – made up of eight years and 11 months for drugs importation offences, and another seven months for cyber-crime offence.
Pictured: Drugs were posted to Quinn in a children's lunchbox decorated with characters from Disney's 'Frozen'.
Meanwhile, 28-year-old Kyle Samuel Dawson from Jersey was jailed for eight years and six months.
Jordan Barnett-Roberts (23), also from Jersey, was sentenced to 456 hours of community service – the equivalent of three years' imprisonment.
Operation Elf began in June 2022, when customs officers intercepted a postal packet from Liverpool addressed to Barnett-Roberts.
This parcel contained 185 grams of cocaine.
The drugs were substituted with fakes before Barnett-Roberts gave the package to Roslan, who took it inside a property with Dawson.
Pictured (from left to right): Kyle Dawson (28) and 35-year-old Ibrahim Roslan.
Officers then entered the property, where Roslan and Dawson were in the upstairs bedroom.
Roslan went onto the balcony and attempted to hide the substituted drugs in the gutter of the house, before jumping off the balcony to try and avoid arrest.
He was later found hiding in a nearby bush.
Roslan, Dawson and Barnett-Roberts were all arrested.
After their initial interviews, the men were released whilst investigations continued into their phones, finances and into any forensic links to the importation.
On 25 July 2023, customs officers intercepted a postal packet which contained 54 grams of cocaine and 2,500 ecstasy tablets.
Pictured: Another package received by Quinn contained over 50 grams of cocaine in a 'Barbie' lunchbox.
This resulted in the arrest of Quinn after phone and forensic evidence linked him to the drugs. He was subsequently charged.
On 26 September 2023, another postal packet was intercepted and found to contain 355 ecstasy tablets. Later analysis of Roslan's phone linked him to this importation.
A fourth parcel was intercepted on 7 October 2023. It was found to contain 164 grams of cocaine, concealed within '40th Birthday' gift boxes.
Two days later, Roslan was arrested in Liverpool by the Merseyside Police County Lines Investigation Team.
He was passed over to customs officers who escorted him back to Jersey.
When Merseyside Police searched Roslan's flat, they found two champagne glasses engraved with ‘40th Birthday' that fit the gift boxes previously seized by Jersey customs officers.
Merseyside Police also recovered 2,000 ecstasy tablets from the property.
Forensic links were found connecting both Roslan and Quinn to the cocaine seized on 7 October 2023.
Pictured: Aaron Nursaw (33) was arrested in Liverpool.
Merseyside Police arrested Nursaw on 18 October 2023 in Liverpool. He was also brought to Jersey.
Roslan, Dawson, Barnett-Roberts and Nursaw were all charged with the parts they played in the 2022 importations.
In April 2024, Roslan and Quinn were also charged for their parts in the 2023 importations.
Dawson was found guilty of his part in this importation after a trial in September 2024.
Customs officers also revealed that the investigations conducted throughout Operation Elf led to two other convictions.
Janice Mawdsley was jailed for four years after bringing 188 grams of cocaine and six grams of ketamine into the island on a flight from Liverpool, and Philip Delduca was imprisoned for three years and 10 months after importing 101 grams of cocaine on the ferry from Poole.
Together with Mawdsley and Delduca's sentences, the total sentence for all seven offenders is 44 years and two months, plus 456 hours community service.
Pictured (from left to right): Michael Quinn and Jordan Barnett-Roberts are both Jersey-born 23-year-olds.
JCIS Senior Manager Luke Goddard said: “This was a long and complex investigation with large amounts of phone, financial and forensic data, all of which needed close examination and analysis.
“It incorporated the JCIS Investigation Unit undertaking covert activities as well as the Border Teams at the ports and post office.
“It involved collaborative work with States of Jersey Police Drugs Squad and their High-Tech Crime Unit and the Merseyside Police County Lines Investigation Team.
“The operation has resulted in the conviction of seven individuals, the seizure of over £270,000 worth of drugs, a substantial community service order and sentences totalling more than 44 years imprisonment.
“This is a significant result that has completely dismantled a drug syndicate targeting Jersey and demonstrates the professionalism of the officers involved.”
Detective Sergeant Carl Lynch from Merseyside Police’s County Lines Investigation team said: “Today’s sentencing shows the success of working together with other agencies like JCIS to take county lines offenders off our streets.
“The arrests of Roslan and Nursaw in Liverpool supported the complex investigation and ensured they could no longer cause further harm to our communities.
“We know the devastation that drugs cause and Merseyside Police remains relentless in our pursuit of these criminals and ending their drugs trade.
“Project Medusa is our daily force response to county lines, and we continue to work collaboratively with a wide range of partners and agencies to disrupt serious organised crime and put criminals behind bars.”
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