A man and a woman have been jailed for five years for being involved in a national supply of cocaine and heroin from Liverpool into Southampton.

Steven and Suezanne Forest, 56 and 48 years old respectively and both of Cromer Road, were sentenced after a police warrant discovered £250,000 worth of cocaine and heroin at a house on Old Redbridge Road.

Officers also found three double barrel shotguns and three revolvers.

The court was told how the duo supported Max Craig Alexander, 34 and of no fixed abode, who was the main man behind a supply of Class A drugs from Liverpool into Southampton during 2020 and 2021.

An investigation into Alexander and his co-defendants was run as Operation Boheme.

This coincided with an international operation targeting criminals using a mobile encryption service, commonly referred to as EncroChat, to evade detection.

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Steven and Suezanne had previously pleaded not guilty to conspiring to supply heroin and cocaine and conspiring to transfer criminal property.

In May, a jury found them guilty of these offences following a lengthy trial, which began several weeks earlier in March at Southampton Crown Court.

They were both sentenced to five years in prison.

In October, Alexander was sentenced to 15 years.

Stuart Marcus Forrest, a 24-year-old of Lyburn Close in Southampton, was sentenced to 14 years.

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Southampton Chief Inspector Chris Douglas said:  “These four people, responsible for the supply of hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of Class A drugs into Southampton, have been sentenced to a combined total of 39 years in prison and will now face the consequences of what they have done.

“Offenders who traffic and peddle drugs do not care about the harm they bring to our communities and or the lives that are destroyed by addiction.

 “The supply of drugs is often connected to other offences such as high levels of violence, or even the exploitation and abuse of vulnerable adults and children, which is why we relentlessly pursue those involved.

"These sentences demonstrate very clearly that we will not tolerate the supply of drugs in Hampshire & on the Isle of Wight.

“If you are involved in activity like this, we will find you and bring you to justice.”