A 54-YEAR-OLD woman has been found guilty of peddling heroin and crack cocaine on the streets of Swindon.

Barbara Esandol, of Wallington, Surrey, denied conspiracy to supply Class A and B drugs as well as laundering money.

The jury found her guilty on both charges at Southampton Crown Court yesterday but cleared Chantel Prempeh-Dabere, 18, who denied the same charges.

As we reported in yesterday's later edition, Esandol was arrested after Wiltshire Police's Operation Deft. She is part of a gang operating in Swindon, Purton and Wootton Bassett.

Officers launched Operation Deft in August 2003 to flush out gang members.

Twenty-five arrests were made and £53,000 worth of drugs were seized as was a machine gun and body armour.

Six other gang members including two women from Swindon already admitted drug offences.

Esandol and the others will be sentenced at Southampton Crown Court on May 10.

The other six are the ringleader Darren Mensah, 28, of Wallington, Surrey, who lived in Wootton Bassett at the time of the offences, Michelle Foxworthy, 35, Collingsmead, Eldene, Lucy Zerebecki, 22, of Turnham Green, Freshbrook, Jason Mensah, 29, of no fixed abode, Ahmed Oke, 28, of Watford, Hertfordshire, and Colin Page, 26, of HMP Cardiff.

A ninth person, Darren Graham, 19, of High Street, Purton, was cleared of all charges at an earlier hearing.

Around 50 officers took part in the operation which focussed on looking into Darren Mensah's criminal operation.

An initial covert operation on Mensah revealed a sophisticated drug-dealing organisation, responsible for the large scale distribution of drugs into the Wiltshire region.

Chief Insp Paul Granger said: "This operation demonstrates that while Wiltshire is the safest county we intend to keep it that way.

"This is a warning to drug dealers to stay away. If you come we will catch you."