Jailed: Zhilwan Rezaee, Billy Livingstone, Shepherd Murombedzi, Tre Mitford, Callum Harvey-Mackenzie and Leo Morris (top left to bottom right).

Several members of a Swindon street gang have been jailed for their part in supplying cannabis, cocaine, crack cocaine and heroin across the town.

The ‘Eldene Boys’ controlled multiple supply lines across Swindon, as well as being involved in violent offences including knife attacks on rival gangs and even within their own ranks as they dealt with distrust amongst themselves.

Following an extensive Wiltshire Police investigation, named Op Yuma, nine members of the gang were sentenced as follows:

The drugs operation

The gang operated a County Lines style model, with one person controlling the phone and others holding and supplying the commodity.

Children as young as 12 were documented as working with the gang and were used to hold the phones and drugs overnight.

The children were paid for their services with clothing and electric bikes, which were the delivery method of choice for the gang’s street level supply.

Operation Yuma sought to target the upper tiers of the gang through proactive policing and the use of covert assets to evidence their criminality and to cause maximum disruption to the gang.

The investigation

Billy Livingstone, 25, was the head of the gang. In February 2024, he was stopped driving a car having just been to collect a fellow gang member after their release from prison.

Livingstone’s addresses were searched, and he was found to have more than 800 grams of heroin with a street value of more than £50,000, as well as deals of cocaine and cannabis, at a safe house in West Swindon.

Evidence was recovered showing his control of the group, arranging drug supply lines for people that he had assessed as showing promise, as well as arranging properties for them to operate from.

He had discussions with other street dealers about the purchase of their lines when they themselves were due to go to prison, as well as extensive communication with his right-hand man and co-leader Zhilwan Rezaee.

Discussions with Rezeaa were documented about the gang’s supply chain, current stock takes and finances, as well as all other aspects of the gang’s activities including their online marketing of their drugs using the name ‘EBEXOTICS’.

Livingstone was charged and remanded into custody.

Livingstone’s partner at the time, Charley Hunt, was the keeper of the safe house, storing the drugs on behalf of Livingstone, as well as supplying cannabis to her own customer base. She was also charged with her involvement.

Rezaee took sole command of the gang after Livingstone’s remand – however he was soon arrested in March 2024.

Rezaee was found to have cocaine stored in a vehicle close to his home address in Tadpole Garden Village, as well as scales and around £7,000 in cash.

It was identified that he was using the address of Owen Hemmings in Covingham to store the rest of his drugs, resulting in Hemmings also being arrested. During the subsequent search, Hemmings opened his safe to reveal more than 350 grams of cocaine valued in the region of £30,000, which he stated he was storing for an unnamed person.

Rezaee and Hemmings were both charged and remanded.

Street level suppliers Leo Morris and Grant Townsend were also identified, arrested and charged as a result of their involvement in the criminality of the gang.

The investigation moved onto the gang’s suppliers. It was evidenced that the cocaine was coming from Oxford, being supplied by the telegram name of ‘DUSSELDORF’.

It was established that this was in fact Shepherd Murombedzi, a semi-professional footballer playing for Brackley Town FC.

He had recruited a former teammate, Tre Mitford, to store and supply the drugs for him. Surveillance evidence showed that when Mitford travelled to Swindon, he was now meeting with another gang member, Callum Harvey-Mackenzie, from Eldene.

Exchanges would take place in Windbrook Meadow, Swindon, before Harvey-Mackenzie took the drugs back to a nearby address, where it was then distributed from.

On May 17, 2024, Mitford made the trip again, but police were waiting from him. Harvey-Mackenzie entered Mitford’s vehicle and exited a short while later. Harvey-Mackenzie was stopped and arrested nearby, and he was found to be in possession of 1kg of cocaine, with a value of up to £80,000.

Mitford was stopped and arrested on his way back to Oxford and was found with a bag containing £22,000 on the front seat.

A warrant was then executed at Murombedzi’s home address. He attempted to dispose of the dealing phone, but in his panic threw away his personal phone and left the drug line in his address. £50,000 cash was then found under his bed.

A search of Mitford’s address was conducted and around 1.5kg of cocaine was found in a box under his bed. This was split into everything from bulk deals down to one gram street deals, bagged and labelled accordingly.

Interrogation of Murombedzi’s phone showed a long history of high-level drug supply, with imports directly from Europe and even South America through an extensive network. He had physically been in possession of over 25kg of cocaine during 2024 alone.

Mitford, Murombedzi and Harvey-Mackenzie were all charged and remanded, and a restraint order was issued against Murombedzi’s house so that it can be sold to repay the profit that he has made.

All of those involved pleaded guilty.

DS Neil Hilton of the Serious Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) said: “Gangs that seek to exploit children to undertake their dirty work will always draw the attention of the police.

“We would encourage parents to take an active interest in what their children are doing, who they are associating with whilst away from their house and what they are bringing home with them.

“If they return with new clothes that you haven't bought, or with bikes that you know they can't afford, then this could be a sign of their involvement in drug supply.

“Always ask questions about bags they say they are looking after or their friends have left, as this is the model that drugs gangs are choosing to use.

“Serious and organised criminals often operate in plain sight. The police have a good idea of who they are and what they are doing, but sometimes need that final snippet of information from the public to fill in the blanks.

“I encourage you to report anything that you think may be suspicious or worthy of attention as it could be the missing piece of the jigsaw.

“The Eldene Boys considered themselves to be above the law, administering their own justice to their rivals and amongst their peers.

“The gang has now been left in disarray with their senior members serving lengthy custodial sentences. This should serve as a warning to those aspiring to fill the void that you will be caught, and you will be sent to prison.”