Trapped: evil drugs supermarket gang

An undercover police operation has filmed a "customer" buying crack cocaine from two dealers only yards from Earl's Court underground station.

The dealers - Sami Anderson and James Davis - were among a group of more than 20 who operated a "24/7" drugs supermarket in the area. Police said many of the dealers "commuted" to work there from all over London.

Detectives say any type of drugs were on offer from cannabis to heroin. They could be ordered by phone and delivered in person in the street.

At the centre of the drugs ring was 38-year-old Marva Kerr of Battersea, a crack dealer with dozens of previous convictions, including two for drug supply, 10 for theft and 70 for prostitution. She is starting an eight-year sentence for crack dealing after her third conviction for supply.

Known as the "Queen Bee" she operated from local fast food shops such as McDonald's and Burger King and secreted the drugs packages internally. She used "runners" to supply drugs to clients in the street.

The undercover police operation which broke the gang involved the use of DNA evidence to identify the main culprits. Detectives posed as clients and bought drugs from the dealers and then tested the packages for DNA samples.

Kerr, in particular, was convicted after her DNA was found to match the samples found on the drug packages.

Details of the drugs operation can be revealed today for the first time at the conclusion of a string of court cases which were brought against 20 dealers. Eighteen were convicted and jailed for a total of 42 years. Among them was

Derrick Lobban, 38, known as "Bigga", a Jamaican national from Brixton, who got six years for two counts of supplying crack.

Lobban, who had four aliases and appeared with his 17-year-old son, had been previously deported from Britain after a conviction and jail sentence for supplying drugs in 1995. He re-entered the country illegally. Previous attempts to bring him to court had failed after he skipped bail and went on the run abroad.

Detectives from Notting Hill's crime squad were brought in to tackle the gang in January last year after an increase in street robberies and burglaries in the area.

Detective Chief Inspector Chris Watts, who led the inquiry, said: "There has always been a drugs and prostitution market around Earl's Court but we were seeing an increase in crude robberies and burglaries which appeared to be drug related. They were taking property which could be sold for a fast profit."

Police found the operation, codenamed Obra, had a dramatic effect on crime in the area. In the three months following the arrests burglary in the area fell by 26 per cent compared with a 14 per cent rise elsewhere in the borough, and street robbery fell by 18 per cent cent compared with a 34 per cent rise elsewhere.

Mr Watts said: "This operation achieved a total disruption of the drugs market which proves that these tactics work. We achieved a big impact not only on the drugs market but on crime in the area with one operation." Initially the crime squad carried out surveillance on the dealers and identified an organised drugs ring where each of the dealers had their own slice of territory and a group of clients.

Mr Watts said: "It was quite obvious that they all knew each other. They would nod to each other as they moved around the area. They each had their own bit of pavement and there was a mutual understanding between them."

However, police found the transaction between the runner and the holder of the drugs was so quick they struggled to get evidence against the ringleaders. In a change of tactics, detectives turned to the use of testing for DNA on the drug packages and the operation was quickly smashed.