Heywood man who was part of 30-strong drug gang jailed for three years

Jacob Dignum-Stansfield (3/8/1994) of Prospect Street, Heywood

A Heywood man has been jailed after an undercover officer infiltrated a drugs gang of 31 people in North Manchester.

Operation Danube – a covert investigation spanning a year – targeted organised crime groups involved in the supply of Class A drugs across the North Manchester area.

Run by officers from the Challenger Manchester team, the operation was born out of intelligence about drug supply – specifically heroin and crack cocaine – in the Cheetham Hill and Crumpsall areas.

An undercover officer – only referred to as Jay – integrated himself with drug users and identified key players, gathering evidence on those involved in the chain of supply.

The officer established the drugs lines’ management who, following a series of dawn raids, were brought down along with their ‘employees’.

The final member of the 31 was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court on Wednesday (19 December), after the others were sentenced at earlier hearings.

Jacob Dignum-Stansfield (3/8/1994) of Prospect Street, Heywood was jailed for three years and 10 months.

Detective Inspector Andy Buckthorpe of GMP’s City of Manchester Division, said: “The impact of drugs and those who deal them is significant across the North Manchester area, often taking away people’s quality of life by preying on the most vulnerable.

“Some of the most serious of crimes are as a result of drugs so being able to stand here today and put a stop to these people is a massive blow to those who benefit from the sale of drugs, with no regard for the amount of people they’re harming.

“We found that the organised criminals, who sit above street level, distance themselves from the day-to-day operational side to reduce the risk to themselves but, despite their tactics, we’ve been able to bring them tumbling down from the very top to the very bottom.

“We’ll continue to work alongside all of our partners to target and disrupt those who cause the most harm and these convictions show our absolute determination and commitment to doing so. It sends a clear message to those who think they are above the law – we will find you, we will take your illicit business apart and we will do everything we can to make sure you’re prosecuted.

“Without these people on the streets, Manchester is no doubt somewhat safer – with firearms and ammunition in their possession, who knows what lengths they were willing to go to protect their royalties.

“I’d like to thank the people of Cheetham Hill and Crumpsall for supporting the work we’ve done and for the vast amount of intelligence they’ve passed onto us. We cannot tackle these issues without their support and I want to take this opportunity to show people what their information can really do.”