Action by Kent Police’s County Lines and Gangs Team led to the arrest of 22 people in April.
In addition to the arrests the team executed nine warrants, had 14 charges authorised, made 46 drugs seizures and seized over £8,000 in cash.
Warrant executed
On 27 April officers conducted two warrants at properties in Chatham. The officers seized half a kilo of crack cocaine and heroin, mobile phones, two machetes and a sword.
A man aged 19, from Enfield and an18-year-old man from Chatham were charged with possession of crack cocaine with intent to supply.
They appeared before Medway Magistrates Court on 29 April and are due to appear before Maidstone Crown Court on 27 May.
Dealer jailed
A county line drug dealer who was arrested after officers tracked him down in Ebbsfleet has been jailed.
Between September 2020 and January 2021, investigators from Kent Police’s County Lines and Gangs Team learned that a specific phone number was regularly used to advertise heroin and cocaine for sale in Medway.
Detectives identified that the supplier regularly used Ebbsfleet International railway station and on 26 January 2021 stopped the 22-year-old man as he travelled into Kent.
He was detained for a drug search and officers seized three phones, one of which had the number used by the ‘Bruce Line.’ They also found a clingfilm package in his underwear that contained ninety wraps of cocaine, five wraps of heroin and a ball of heroin.
The man pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court and on Tuesday 20 April 2021, the 22-year-old was sentenced to four years in prison.
Three jailed for over 20 years
Three men who operated a drugs supply network across Gravesham have been jailed for a total of more than 20 years.
A 31-year-old man played a leading role in coordinating multiple county lines which primarily operated in Gravesend. The lines often coerced vulnerable people into supplying the substances, including a 12-year-old boy.
Two men aged 22 and 20 were sentenced alongside the older man and acted as runners who transported the drugs from London to north Kent.
All three were sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court on Thursday 22 April 2021.
Officers also found his network had used a 12-year-old boy to act as a dealer and the child has since been safeguarded by Kent Police and other partner agencies.
The 31-year-old, from Northfleet denied conspiring to supply heroin and crack cocaine but was found guilty of both offences following a trial at Woolwich Crown Court. He was sentenced to 11 years and 9 months’ imprisonment.
The 22-year-old, also from Northfleet, admitted conspiring to supply crack cocaine and possessing a weapon designed to discharge a noxious liquid. He was sentenced to four years and 10 months’ imprisonment.
The youngest man aged 20, from Northfleet, admitted possessing heroin and crack cocaine with intent to supply. He was sentenced to three years and eight months’ imprisonment.
Detective Inspector Martin Williams said: ‘Since the formation of the County Lines and Gangs Team in March 2020 the officers have made 364 arrests and had a total of 425 charges authorised.
‘The team have been successful in safeguarding vulnerable people who have fallen victim to county line dealers intent on using their homes to deal drugs or manipulating children into carrying drugs and threating them with violence if they do not comply.
‘We are working relentlessly to arrest individuals involved in drug supply and will continue to disrupt the drugs network and send out a very clear message to criminals that this behaviour will not be tolerated.’