Two county lines drug traffickers who "heartlessly" exploited teenage boys for financial gain have been jailed for a combined total of 23 years.

Trevis Abiola, 23, and Javarni McPherson, 23, were stopped by police in a car travelling towards Canterbury after they were found to be running the 'Spencer Line' network that supplied heroin and crack cocaine between London and Kent.

It came after a 15-year-old boy was stopped by police at Stratford railway station and was found to have almost £500, multiple SIM cards, a pot of Vaseline and a cannabis grinder.

Initial enquiries revealed the boy had not been home in more than a week before he was arrested on suspicion of being concerned in drug supply.

The youngster’s phone was analysed, and officers discovered a series of messages referencing drug supply sent from the Spencer deal line while he was in Canterbury just days before being stopped on June 8 last year.

One incoming message read “count everything”, to which the boy replied “62L” – relating to the number of crack cocaine wraps he had left. Another message read “count bread” and the boy promptly replied “£250 there”.

"Abiola and McPherson are callous and prolific county lines offenders that heartlessly exploited teenage boys for their own financial gain..."

Abiola, of St Mary Cray, Orpington, and McPherson, of Priory House, Peckham, were identified as the controllers of the Spencer Line. They were arrested by officers on July 1, after being stopped in a car travelling towards Canterbury.

Officers raided their homes and seized a large number of mobile phones and SIM cards, more than £4,000 in cash, Class A drugs and designer clothing.

Data downloaded from the Spencer Line phone number lifted the lid on the pair’s lucrative drugs supply network between London and Kent.

It also identified two other teenage boys that were being used by Abiola and McPherson to transport drugs – one of whom had recently been reported missing by their parents.

All three boys were treated as victims in the Spencer Line drug supply business model and referred into the National Referral Mechanism for safeguarding and not prosecuted for their involvement.

Abiola and McPherson appeared at Hove Crown Court on November 22 where they both pleaded not guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply heroin and crack cocaine and human trafficking offences.

A jury found the pair guilty on both counts of conspiracy to supply heroin and crack cocaine on Thursday following a four-week trial.

They were found not guilty of conspiracy to commit human trafficking. But their criminal use of teenage boys was referenced throughout the trial as context to their offending.

The judge sentenced both men to prison terms - Abiola to serve 14 years and McPherson nine years - and commented that “county lines drug supply is a matter of national concern” and “the sentences the courts impose have to reflect that public concern”.

Det Supt Gareth Williams said: "Abiola and McPherson are callous and prolific county lines offenders that heartlessly exploited teenage boys for their own financial gain.

"I am pleased that my team’s efforts, along with fabulous support from Kent Police and the Metropolitan Police Service, have led to three vulnerable boys being safeguarded and removed from the clutches of these toxic drugs traffickers.

"We know that working closely with our policing colleagues is essential if we want to eradicate county lines offending from the railway network and these sentences demonstrate how effective a collective effort can be.

"The sentence imposed is justifiably strong and proves that this type of criminality will not be tolerated – we will always pursue those that criminally exploit and ruin others’ lives and we will prosecute them without exception."