A drug dealer who got his mother to run a £300,000 heroin and cocaine ring using runners from Teignbridge and Plymouth while he sunned himself in Cyprus has been jailed.

George Pikounis set up the supply line from London to Plymouth and then moved to Pyla in Cyprus where he controlled it by phone.

His mother Helen Katsigianni took over the day-to-day running of the scheme and took regular flights to Cyprus to deliver the profits.

They were trapped by a police surveillance operation which tracked Katsigianni’s regular train trips to Plymouth to deliver drugs and visits to her home in North London by couriers picking up drugs or dropping off cash.

The Plymouth end was run by trusted henchman Martin Payne who was identified by police after Katsigianni took a regular taxi journey from the station to it.

Pikounis, aged 29, of Pyla, Cyprus; Katsigianni, aged 67, of Lascotts Road, London; and Payne, of Keswick Close, Plymouth, were jailed for eight, three-and-a-half and six years respectively by Judge Timothy Rose at Exeter Crown Court.

Couriers Alan Welch, aged 45, of Fleet Close, Newton Abbot, and Nicola Baxter, aged 39, of Blandford Road, Plymouth received sentences of 15 months and two years, both suspended for two years.

All admitted conspiracy to supply heroin and crack cocaine.

Mr Ray Tully, prosecuting, said phone and surveillance evidence showed the group organised 30 delivery trips between August 2016 and July 2017.

Pikounis moved to Cyprus during the 10-month long investigation in 2016 but his mother carried on making regular trips to Plymouth, where she only stayed long enough to go to take a taxi to Payne’s house, drop off drugs or pick up money.

Police seized crack cocaine and heroin with an estimated street value of over £300,000 that had been trafficked by the group.

Pikounis was running the group from Cyprus where he controlled three bank accounts that were used to transfer the profits. His mother made frequent trip to visit him and deliver cash.

Officers from Devon and Cornwall Police worked with the National Crime Agency and flew to Cyprus to where local police arrested Pikounis on July 25, 2017 and he was extradited a week later.

After the case, investigating officer, Detective Constable Chris Louca said: ‘The investigation team produced over 10,000 pages of evidence that provided the court with a detailed account of the many facets of the investigation, including mobile phone data and financial records. 

‘The level of detail in the evidence was key to the defendants entering early guilty pleas and successfully convicting those who chose to stand trial.

‘This investigation demonstrates the capacity and ability to investigate serious crime where the main subject is not living in the United Kingdom, but still committing offences that directly impacts our communities.

‘Devon and Cornwall Police will and continue to seek to bring those responsible for serious offences within the area, regardless of where they reside.

‘We would like to thank the Cypriot Law Enforcement Agencies and the National Crime Agency for their assistance in the overseas arrest and extradition of Pikounis.’