Blackburn drug dealer jailed and appeal issued for whereabouts of wanted men

Thursday, January 29, 2026

The men pictured on the left and the right are Blackburn crack cocaine drug dealers.

The man on the left is Josh Lane and he likes to direct others to do his drug-dealing.

Those others included the man on the right, Agris Matulevics.

The man in the middle is Romeo Kozlovskis and our officers want to speak to him as part of their ongoing investigation.

To give you some context into Lane and Matulevics’ offending, on 30th January 2025 officers from our East Proactive Targeting Team witnessed a blue Seat Leon drive onto a carpark behind the Coral bookmakers on Bank Top. The parties then engaged in a drug deal.

Both the occupants of the Leon were arrested later the same day on suspicion of possessing with intent to supply class A drugs. One of those individuals was Matulevics.

Matulevics’ mobile phone was examined and messages were recovered showing he was being directed where and when to deal drugs by Lane.

On 9th April Lane was arrested at his home in Blackburn on suspicion of conspiring to supply class A.

Lane was searched and our officers seized a mobile phone. Enquiries found Lane had recently changed his number but we still managed to recover a series of incriminating messages. In one, he told a contact to change his mobile number because he was paranoid about the police.

During a search of Lane’s house, we found a tub containing traces of cocaine in the kitchen, hundreds of pounds of cash, a number of mobile phones and  a black extendable ASP.

Lane, 23, of Pelham Street, Blackburn, was charged with being concerned with the supply of crack cocaine. He denied the offence but was found guilty following a trial at Preston Crown Court in October.

He returned to the same court on Friday (23rd January) where he was jailed for three a half years.

A forfeiture order was made for the cash and phones seized from Lane.

Matulevics, 33, of Higson Street, Blackburn, was charged with possession with intent to supply crack cocaine. He admitted the offence but failed to attend court for sentencing and a warrant has now been issued for his arrest.

DC Tom Archer, from our East Proactive Targeting Team, said: “We know the impact drug-dealing has on our local communities and we want to make it clear that our officers are out on the streets every day tackling it.

“Lane and Matulevics targeted vulnerable members of the community with the aim of making what they thought would be easy money. However, actions have consequences, and I am pleased Lane has now been jailed. I would also ask for anyone with information on the whereabouts of Matulevics to make contact with the police as soon as possible.

“If you are aware of criminal activity in your area please call 101 or report it via https://doitonline.lancashire.police.uk/PEDisclaimer/Create in the confidence that we will take the appropriate action and do everything in our powers to put the offenders before the courts.”

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Agris Matulevics or Romeo Kozlovskis is asked to call 101 and quote log 585 of 30th January 2025. For immediate sightings call 999.

Independent charity Crimestoppers can also be contacted on 0800 555111.