City workers sent police texts offering advice on drug abuse
City of London police say they obtained the phone numbers of people buying cocaine after arresting an Albanian drugs gang.
Saturday 12 October 2019 13:26, UK
Police have sent text messages to two thousand customers of an Albanian drugs gang that supplied cocaine to people working in London's financial centre.
The messages offer advice and support for dealing with substance abuse and were sent to phone numbers seized from an Albanian organised crime network.
In the messages it is explained that dealers connected to the phone had been arrested and they were being contacted to offer help, The Times reported.
A link was embedded into the messages offering advice and support and police say it has been clicked on 1,939 times - 1,852 of those from phones in the UK.
The City of London Police tracked 12 Albanians who were caught with 1.2kg of cocaine worth £144,000, fake identity documents and £20,000 in cash.
They were jailed for between 25 and 64 months at Inner London Crown Court and the Old Bailey over the last 12 months.
Detective Constable Lee Johnson, who led the eight-month investigation, said people using drugs were not aware that they were fuelling violent crime and slavery.