Man jailed for leading role in Weymouth drugs conspiracy
A man who played a leading role in a county lines drugs network has been jailed after he failed to appear at court and was tracked down by officers.
Liam Riley, aged 28 and of Liverpool, was one of eight people identified by officers from Dorset Police’s Serious Organised Crime Investigation Team (SOCIT) as being involved in a drugs gang operating between Liverpool and the Weymouth area from November 2018 to February 2019.
His seven co-defendants were sentenced in 2023, but Riley failed to appear at court on Friday 25 August 2023 and officers had been carrying out enquiries to locate him.
He was arrested in Inverness in Scotland on Thursday 19 December 2024 and appeared before Bristol Crown Court to be sentenced on Friday 3 October 2025 for conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
Evidence compiled by the SOCIT team was able to show how a phone line attributed to Riley was used to orchestrate the drugs network, using ‘broadcast texts’ advertising the availability of drugs for sale to local users.
The detailed investigation culminated in a series of arrests between Tuesday 18 December 2018 and Thursday 31 January 2019, when Riley was arrested an address in Cheshire.
He was located in a bathroom and appeared to be trying to destroy a mobile phone.
The SIM card and IMEI identification plate were found to be missing on the phone, but it was of the same make and model as the one used to issue the broadcast texts relating to the sale of drugs.
The police operation resulted in the seizure of more than 800 wraps of class A drugs as well as more than £15,000 in cash.
Riley was sentenced to five years in prison at Bristol Crown Court on Friday 3 October 2025.
Detective Chief Inspector Jamie Halford, of Dorset Police, said: “Liam Riley played a leading role in a major county lines operation that involved the exporting of class A drugs from Liverpool to supply to users in the Weymouth area.
“Through our detailed investigation, we were able to identify the main players in this operation and compile evidence to expose their involvement.
“We remain fully aware of the significant impact the supply of class A drugs has on our communities in Dorset and we will continue to fully investigate those involved and bring them to justice.
“We remain indebted to information from the public to help disrupt these supply chains and would urge anyone with information or intelligence to submit it via the ‘Report Your Intelligence’ button on our website or by calling 101. If a crime is in progress, always dial 999.”
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