Pair Jailed After Police Cocaine Swoop

Mark Lambie (L) & Ben Hamill (R)

Two drug dealers caught in a police operation centered on a cocaine handover at a pub have been locked-up.

Mark Lambie, 48, of Whalebone Grove, Romford received nine years for supplying cocaine.

Ben Hamill, 43, of Buckingham Road, Richmond-upon-Thames, received four-and-half years for the same offence.

They appeared at Blackfriars Crown Court after the seizure of two kilos of cocaine.

A third man, Jamal Primus, 38, of Felixstowe Road, Tottenham had already admitted conspiring to supply cocaine and was due to be sentenced on another date.

On Friday, January 25, officers from the Metropolitan Police's Specialist Crime North Proactive Syndicate conducted a proactive operation targeting a group of gang members from north London.

Officers observed Lambie and Primus arrive at a pub in Ship Lane, Mortlake, south-west London in separate vehicles. 

A short time later, Hamill arrived and handed Lambie a white bag. 

The men then left the location and officers carried out a stop of two vehicles, including the car Lambie and Primas were travelling in, on Seven Sisters Road, Finsbury Park, north London. 

Two kilos of cocaine were recovered and the men were arrested.

On Tuesday, January 29 Hamill was arrested. 

A search of his address revealed fifteen sets of packaging containing cocaine residue, identical to the packaging found wrapped around the cocaine seized four days earlier.

Detective Inspector Pete McDonald, from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command, said: “This successful operation has seen a significant amount of cocaine removed from the drugs market. 

“Thanks to the dedication of my team, these gang members have been removed from the streets of London and will now serve lengthy sentences.

“Drugs destroy lives and fuel crime and violence in our communities. 

“We will not stop in our efforts to robustly target this kind of criminality and I hope the sentencing serves as a stark reminder to those involved in drugs offences.”