A 'CLEAR message' has been sent to criminals who flood Barrow with drugs after a woman was jailed for four years.

Toni Cross was sent to prison after admitting supplying heroin and crack cocaine between Merseyside and Barrow.

Peter McCall, Cumbria’s Police and Crime Commissioner, said the case should send a 'clear message to drug dealers that they are not welcome in Cumbria'.

He said: "The effect of illicit drugs is so corrosive to our communities and too often preys on vulnerable people leading to a life of misery, often into crime.

"We have seen too many deaths as a result of addiction.

"I am pleased therefore to see the continuing effect of Cumbria Police working with regional and national partners to take drug dealers off our streets.

"This latest successful prosecution and sentencing should send a clear message to drug dealers that they are not welcome in Cumbria, they will be pursued and Cumbria Police will take the strongest action and all measures to bring them to justice.

"We clearly need to do what we can working with partner agencies to support addicts to try and stop the demand for drugs, but there will be no let up in taking dealers off our streets and before the courts."

Cross, 41, from Merseyside, appeared at Preston Crown Court on Monday for sentencing after pleading guilty to offences relating to the supply of heroin and crack cocaine in Cumbria.

She also appeared in court following charges by Merseyside Police for possession with intent to supply class A drugs namely heroin and crack cocaine on October 4 2019.

This follows the recovery of 55 wraps of crack cocaine with street value of £550 and 44 wraps of Heroin valued at £410.

Operation Funicular was a County Lines investigation by the South Area Drugs Unit from July 2019 to November 2019 into an organised crime gang based in Merseyside named ‘Jay Jay’.

Officers found that a vehicle belonging to Cross travelled regularly from Merseyside to Cumbria throughout July and August 2019.

On November 26 2019 police officers stopped Cross’s vehicle on Park Road, just on the outskirts of Barrow.

The driver of the vehicle was Toni Cross alongside a front seat passenger.

During a search officers recovered a SIM card later identified as the 'Jay Jay' line. Cross and the passenger were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to supply class A drugs.

Whilst in custody Cross was searched and found in possession of a kinder egg. This was forensically tested and found to have traces for heroin and cocaine.

On February 19 2020, Cross was arrested in Merseyside and brought into custody in Kendal.

The arrest was made following investigators finding evidence that Cross was a key member of the gang, acting as a driver and courier of drugs between Merseyside and Barrow carrying out numerous journeys to Barrow.

Cross received payment in cash for her involvement with the organised crime group which she denied in her initial interview with detectives.

A spokesperson for the South Cumbria Drugs Unit said: “This was a very sophisticated and complex inquiry that took many hours of dedicated detailed work from detective officers within the south of the county.

“Prosecuting criminals who target some of our most vulnerable members of our community by bringing illicit drugs into the area is a key priority for police and operations such as this will continue.

“We will target those at all levels of the criminality from locals who facilitate the groups to those at the upper echelons who run such enterprises and exploit others.”