Three men jailed for roles in organised drug dealing across the county

Three men have been sentenced to more than 22 years in prison collectively for drug offences around Norfolk – including in Lynn.Christoffel Van Rossum, 48, of Crittall Court in Witham, Daniel London, 33, of Egyptian Goose Road in Norwich and Matthew Carley, 54, of Breck Road in Norwich, all appeared at Norwich Crown Court on Thursday.There, they were sentenced for conspiracy to supply class A drugs, namely cocaine.

This came after a series of incidents between 2019 and 2020 where the group of men worked together to supply and distribute multiple kilogrammes of cocaine throughout the county.On June 19, 2019, a vehicle was stopped by police in Lynn – and 1kg of cocaine was found under the driver’s seat, with all occupants arrested.A mobile phone was seized which contained an exchange of messages from Daniel London discussing the supply of cocaine. There was also a video of a large block of white powder being cut up. A fingerprint from the hand in the video was matched to London.

On July 14, 2019, London was stopped by police in Great Yarmouth. Officers seized his mobile phone.A download of the phone showed links to the mobile numbers previously found to be discussing the supply of cocaine in June.On March 17, 2020, London and Van Rossum met in Horsford to exchange 2kg of cocaine. London gave Van Rossum £56,885 in cash.

Following their meeting, London made off from police – but Van Rossum was arrested in possession of the cash. Two mobile phones were seized from him and he was taken to Martlesham Police Investigation Centre for questioning and was later charged with conspiracy to supply cocaine and possession of criminal property, namely the £56,885 in cash.He was later released on bail until his next court date. Matthew Carley was using the EncroChat encrypted platform to arrange the purchase, delivery and distribution of commercial amounts of cocaine at a time over a protracted period of time.Carley also organised drug debts and monies owed, to be paid to him, for the large amounts of cocaine he sold.Messages dated from December 4, 2019 revealed a connection between London and Carley which implied it was Carley who introduced London to the conspiracy. There were a significant number of calls between the two men.On April 11, 2020, Carley attended London’s home address to discuss the debt owed following Van Rossum’s arrest. They fell out as a result of the debt. London called the police reporting people acting suspiciously in the area and Carley was stopped by police. No further action was taken at this point.On December 9, 2020, officers conducted a search warrant on Carley’s home address in Norwich. He was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to supply cocaine. A large number of mobile phone and an estimated £24,000 in cash was seized, as well as a large quantity of suspected counterfeit clothing.On the same day, a search warrant was conducted at an address linked to London in Horsford. He was located at the property and also arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to supply cocaine.Both men were taken to Wymondham Police Investigation Centre for questioning. They were both charged with conspiracy to supply cocaine and remanded into custody until their next court date.They were all sentenced yesterday. Their sentences are as follows:- Christoffel Van Rossum: eight years imprisonment- Daniel London: six years and nine months- Matthew Carley: seven years and six months imprisonmentDetective Sergeant Eddie Hammond from the Norfolk and Suffolk Serious and Organised Crime Unit said: “We will not tolerate drug related crime in Norfolk.“All three individuals were responsible and had key roles which enabled the supply of commercial quantities of cocaine to be distributed across Norfolk.“Carley organised his drug dealing business via the EncroChat platform which he believed would go undetected from Law Enforcement.“Their sentences reflect the hugely detrimental impact this type of offending has on our local communities.“We will continue to work to disrupt those who continue to try and establish drug lines in our county.”