Notorious 'gangster' rapper Stardom has been revealed as the kingpin responsible for a huge drug line from Birmingham to Scotland.

Stardom, whose real name is Rikardo Reid, was credited as the 'head' of the Flash county lines operation which supplied cocaine and heroin to drug users in Aberdeen for five years.

Despite the 34-year-old's past career as a promising footballer, this is not his first time being linked to criminal activities.

The Birmingham-based rapper had previously been exposed for being a member of the GSA gang (Goon Squad Army or Get Some Ambition) - a younger spinoff of the ill-famed Johnson Crew.

His ties to the GSA gang landed him in trouble in 2021 when he was targeted by an armed rival gang, the Burger Bar Boys, during his performance at the Levana bar based in Birmingham's Arcadian.

Stardom was also assisted by Joshua Nelson, 35, who has been described as his 'second-in-command' in the drugs line, running a postal supply racket.

Nelson, who is from Walsall, had also carried out his own 'market research' in order to maximise their drug profits.

This included Googling the 'ten best areas for dealing crack cocaine and heroin' in the UK, as well as cities with the highest rates of drug use.

The duo were joined by recruit Mickel Gardner, 40, Scottish distributor Ian Massie, courier Cree Dacres, 29, and street dealer Himesh Suri, 28.

At the sentencing proceedings, which were on Thursday 2nd May, prosecutor Geoff Whelan said: "All the defendants fall to be sentenced as part of Operation Tiger, an investigation into large scale cross-border drugs supply."

Whelan also stated that the drugs racket took place between 2017 and 2022, adding: "Over that period these defendants and others conspired together to supply heroin and cocaine to class A drug users in Aberdeen."

‍