The network saw 32,000 calls and texts from Daniel Bruford to drug runners, as he now faces five and a half years in prison.
We spoke about it on The Kent Morning Show earlier.
We spoke about it on The Kent Morning Show earlier.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Finn joins us in the studio to tell us more. It's an interesting story because it comes
00:03with some body camera footage, which is quite shocking.
00:06Yeah, that's right. We do have some body camera footage. As you can see on the screen shortly,
00:12the police entered Daniel Bruford's home by force and detained him. They then found wads
00:18of cash and cocaine after apprehending Bruford. He was arrested in the early hours of the
00:23morning back in September. You can see there there's also some samurai sword sheets. It
00:28wasn't just cash, like I said, that they found. They uncovered several different types
00:32of weapons, samurai swords, nunchucks, a spear, knuckle dusters, machetes and even an extendable
00:38baton. And the resolution is he later pled guilty at Medway Magistrates Court to the
00:43supply charges and the possessing offensive weapons charge and was sentenced at Maidstone
00:50Crown Court last week to five years and six months in prison.
00:54So, Finn, what's the background here? How long had this Scarface network existed and
00:59what exactly was it?
01:01Well, it had only been active for less than a year, we've been told. Bruford had used
01:07multiple phones to make what the police have told us are 32,000 calls and texts, text messages,
01:14sorry, advertising cocaine. He then used runners to deliver the drugs all while communicating
01:19using text. And now we're learning that Bruford is also going to be the subject of a financial
01:25investigation where the police are going to try and get back any of that money that he
01:29gained while operating the network.
01:31We talk a lot about knife crime and weapons and it's quite shocking to know that in one
01:36of our towns this was hiding in one of the properties there. What have we heard from
01:42in terms of the police? I know that they tend to say some stuff after a sentence like this.
01:46Well, absolutely. And I mean, it's quite a unique case, obviously. And as you mentioned
01:50all about the weapons there, PC James O'Gorman, who led the case against Bruford, said the
01:55evidence against him is just damning. The wide array of weapons seized from his home
01:59were also an indication of the lengths he was prepared to go to enforce and protect
02:03his criminal operation. Our analysis of his phones led to the retrieval of messages and
02:08voice notes discussing prices and quantities of drugs, as well as several threats of serious
02:13violence. Criminals like Bruford think nothing of the despair and misery they bring to our
02:17communities. However, as this case demonstrates, we are continuing to relentlessly target and
02:22disrupt their activities. And we know the work we are doing is making it much harder
02:25for dealers to establish a foothold.
02:26And of course, we were reporting just last week how one of our reporters was able to
02:31go along and actually see one of these raids happening across the east of Kent. And yeah,
02:36I mean, it really goes to show just how much has to be dismantled when we're talking about
02:39networks of, you know, drug dealing. And yeah, like you say, some of the weapons behind
02:46it, it is quite scary. But as we see, it is being caught.
02:49Yeah, and the difference when we actually see body-worn footage as well, it always does
02:55make a difference when we actually get to see behind the scenes what the police do and
02:59the idea to highlight to the public, but also to deter some of those criminals as well.
03:04Exactly. The whole idea of open justice and seeing what the police are doing rather than
03:09just hearing about it, I think it makes a complete difference. And anyone who wants
03:12to know more about the story can read about it over on Kent Online as well.