Police hunting Kent drug dealers arrest 22 in April as County Lines gangs investigated
Detectives fighting the war on drugs on the streets of Kent have arrested 22 people in a month and seized several illegal drugs and cash.
Nine warrants were executed across the county with £23,000 and 46 drug seizures throughout April.
The Kent Police County Lines and Gangs Team are at the frontline to stop the supply of illicit substances and gangs.
There were 77 charges authorised on the 22 people arrested during last month.
Half a kilo of crack cocaine, heroin, mobile phones, two machetes and a sword were seized by officers during two raids at properties in Chatham on April 27.
Two men were charged with possession of crack cocaine with intent to supply.
Leonard Warner, 19, of Lincoln Crescent, Enfield and Jacob Laws, 18, of Melville Court, Chatham appeared at Medway Magistrates' Court on April 29.
They will next appear at Maidstone Crown Court on May 27.
A county lines drug dealer from London has been jailed after police tracked him down at Ebbsfleet International station.
Investigators found a the same phone number had been regularly advertising heroin and cocaine for sale in Medway between September 2020 and January 2021.
Police identified Khali Aremu as he travelled into Kent at Ebbsfleet International on January 26 after learning he regularly used the station.
He was searched and officers captured three phones one of which was used to supply the Bruce line drug network.
A clingfilm package in his pants contained 90 wraps of cocaine, five wraps of heroin and a ball of heroin.
The 22-year-old of Amhurst Road, Hackney admitted charges at Maidstone Crown Court on April 20 and was sentenced to four years in prison.
A trio who used a 12-year-old to peddle drugs across Gravesham are also behind bars after they were sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court on April 22.
Alex Oni, played a leading role in co-ordinating multiple county lines networks which mostly operated in Gravesend.
They often used vulnerable people to supply drugs to users.
Adrian Bodzioch and Deividas Sakalauskas were sentenced alongside Oni and acted as runners who transported the drugs from London to north Kent.
Oni, of Marina Drive, Northfleet denied conspiring to supply heroin and crack cocaine but was found guilty of both offences following a trial at Woolwich Crown Court. The 31-year-old was sentenced to 11 years and 9 months in prison.
Bodzioch, 22, and Sakalauskas, 20, both of Northcote Road, Northfleet admitting charges against them.
Bodzioch was charged with 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.
Sakalauskas admitted possessing heroin and crack cocaine with intent to supply. He was sentenced to three years and eight months’ imprisonment.
The boy has been taken in and is receiving safeguarding support from police and other agencies.
Det Insp Martin Williams said: "Since the formation of the County Lines and Gangs Team in March 2020 the officers have made 292 arrests and had a total of 345 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."
The team's work featured on the BBC's Panorama this week where one of the officers admitted the war on drugs may never be won due to the sheer number of dealers and gangs operating.
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