Kirklees dealer behind 'West Yorkshire Cartel' drug line jailed for nearly seven years

Shane Vickers, 34, of Cleckheaton, was sentenced to six years and ten months after running a Snapchat-advertised cocaine, ketamine and cannabis line.

Cleckheaton man jailed for nearly seven years over county lines drug operation

A Kirklees drug dealer who branded his supply network the "West Yorkshire Cartel" has been sentenced to six years and ten months in prison, Google News UK — Crime (en) reports.

Shane Vickers, 34, of Bradford Road, Cleckheaton, pleaded guilty at Bradford Crown Court on Tuesday 26 August to being concerned in the supply of cocaine, ketamine, and cannabis.

Officers from Operation Phoenix, West Yorkshire Police's county lines taskforce, first grew suspicious after spotting a car making multiple stops and behaving suspiciously. On 2 March 2026, the Proactive Intercept Team stopped an Audi on the A629 between Silsden and Keighley. A search of the vehicle and Vickers himself recovered a mobile phone and two lighters.

Investigators then searched an address in North Yorkshire, where they found a box of 44 new lighters and a roll of labels. West Yorkshire Police's digital forensic unit subsequently examined Vickers's phone and uncovered evidence of bulk messages sent via the Snapchat account @HOOVERITUP247, advertising cocaine, ketamine, cannabis, and pills believed to be MDMA. The account listed the "West Yorkshire Cartel" number as the contact for the line.

Detective Inspector Helen Chapman, who heads Operation Phoenix, said: "We welcome this sentence and hope it reflects the severity of the harm this type of offending causes."

Chapman added that drug supply "fuels crime and violence in our communities" and said the sentence should serve as a warning to others seeking to profit from criminality.

"I want to reassure our communities that Operation Phoenix will continue to take a proactive approach to disrupting and dismantling county lines drug dealing," she said.

Source: Google News UK — Crime (en)