Rapper Asco guilty of supplying heroin through 'county lines' drug routes

Megan White1 August 2019
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Rapper Asco has been found guilty of supplying heroin through "county lines" drug routes across the Home Counties.

Asfa Allen, 32, was at the head of at least four distribution lines taking drugs out of London, Scotland Yard said.

He is best known as being part of east London rap group Mashtown who featured on freestyle sessions hosted by former Radio 1 DJ Tim Westwood, according to a profile on his agent's website.

The British artist was arrested when police raided 15 properties in the areas where he operated, seizing £25,000 in cash, around half a kilogram of heroin, expensive designer footwear and vehicles.

Asco was found guilty of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs on Tuesday, along with Akwasi Kwateng, 24, from Hackney, east London, following a trial at Blackfriars Crown Court.

Four other men - Kai Lye, 28, Donovan Corbett, 22, who are both from Hackney, Bradley Fapolnle, 33, from Barking, and Denzel Nimoh, 20, from Coventry - earlier pleaded guilty to the same charge.

Detective Inspector Dave Williams, said: "Drug dealing is inextricably linked to the violence we have seen across the capital.

"This result is a culmination of months of hard work and dedication focused on tackling these prolific drug dealers who would target vulnerable people and managed multiple drug lines for the sole purpose of financial gain.

"Allen, who also went by the stage name 'Asco', had landed a successful and lucrative recording contract with a major label where he could have left his life of crime and violence behind, however he could not release his grip on running a county lines route and will now be spending time behind bars instead of working on his music.

"I hope today's conviction reassures communities that we do take action and highlights our ongoing commitment to bearing down on county lines criminality."

The gang will be sentenced in September.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in