Drug dealer Ron Whyte was handed an innovative Slavery Trafficking and Risk Order after he was previously jailed six years for drug offences in Southend.
Essex Police became one of the first forces nationally to use the tactic which places strict conditions on who perpetrators can associate with, contact, where they can go and what they can post on social media.
Anyone breaching their conditions faces arrest. This order will cover the next eight years and implements strict terms including on Whyte’s use of mobile phones, his contacts, his carrying of cash and his access to social media.
Detective Constable Anna Lightfoot, Op Raptor safeguarding officer, said: “These orders not only limit the ability of gang members under investigation to commit crime, they also offer an increased level of protection to those people the gang is exploiting.
“The Modern Slavery Act was brought in in 2015, but STROs have been under-utilised.
“They are civil orders that help us impose restrictions on these suspects. This is still largely a new way of thinking, but our teams are always looking at ways to protect those exploited by these gangs.
“If an individual is being prosecuted for a county lines-style offence where there’s been any form of exploitation, and we believe there is a risk the suspect may look to exploit others, we can use the civil order to limit what the suspect can do.”
The order follows an investigation into the “Richi” network which spanned nine separate drug lines and sent out bulk advertising messages to crack cocaine and heroin users in Southend.
The network used young people to hold and manage the drug line phones, employing them as runners.
Whyte, of no fixed address, was linked to the ‘Richi’ line as long ago as 2019.
The police investigation showed he had frequent contact with many of the runners linked to the operation.
He admitted conspiring to supply crack cocaine and heroin and was jailed in September last year and was handed this new order last month.
So far, more than 21 years in prison sentences have been passed down upon those involved in the ‘Richi’ group.