20 people arrested by officers from the County Lines and Gangs Team

Drugs and weapons were seized and 20 people arrested by officers from the County Lines and Gangs Team in June.

During the month the team executed eight warrants and seized around £9,000 in cash.

Included in the arrests was a man who was stopped in Great Lines, Chatham on Thursday, 10 June 2021 after it was suspected he may be dealing drugs. A subsequent search revealed around 20 wraps of crack cocaine and heroin.

Charged

Reece Modeste, 25, of Dunlin Drive, St Mary’s Island appeared before Medway Magistrates’ Court on Friday, 11 June charged with possessing crack cocaine and heroin with intent to supply. He is due before Maidstone Crown Court on 9 July.

Another arrest by the team resulted in a court appearance. At 11.30am on Tuesday 15 June 2021, officers in plain clothes saw three men acting suspiciously near Terrace Road. One of the men was stopped and searched and a man was arrested. Enquiries led the officers to a flat in Terrace Road which they searched. The team recovered a quantity of heroin and crack cocaine.

Adam Haddock of Tonbridge Road, Maidstone was later charged with possession of cocaine with intent to supply and possession of heroin with intent to supply.

On Wednesday 16 June, Mr Haddock aged 33, was remanded by Medway Magistrates’ Court to appear at a hearing at Maidstone Crown Court on a date to be confirmed.

Sentenced

A dealer from Sevenoaks is beginning a four-year prison sentence after being identified as running a county line. Bradley Wynter, 32, of Devonshire Road, Forest Hill was linked to a mobile phone offering drugs for sale in Sevenoaks.
The number used by Wynter was linked to a specific phone known as the ‘Flipz’ line between February and May 2021. Enquiries revealed that Bradley Wynter owned the phone and regularly travelled from London to Sevenoaks in hire cars to sell heroin and crack cocaine.

A search warrant was executed at Wynter’s home address on 12 May 2021. Inside the premises, officers seized the phone that had been used to send the messages along with almost five and a half grams of crack cocaine and heroin. The drugs had an estimated street value of around £500.

Wynter was arrested and later charged with being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine, being concerned in the supply of heroin, possessing crack cocaine with intent to supply and possessing heroin with intent to supply.

He pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court and on Thursday 17 June, 32-year-old Wynter was sentenced to four years and four months’ imprisonment.

Also starting a prison sentence is Armani Hemley, 28, of Ethronvi Road, Bexleyheath, Greater London who was charged with conspiracy to supply cocaine, possession of cocaine with intent to supply and dangerous driving. In 2020, detectives found that a specific phone, known as the AJ line, was being used to offer class A drugs to users in the town. Investigations identified that Hemley was in the possession of the phone and used different cars to travel to Kent to deliver the drugs.

On 30 June, officers attended an address in Bermondsey, Greater London. As they approached, Hemley attempted to run from the premises, throwing a package over a wall. He was detained and when the package was examined it was found to contain 82 wraps of heroin and 161 deals of crack cocaine. The officers also seized £180 from a bag he was carrying and a mobile phone that was later proven to be the AJ line.

The 28-year-old pleaded guilty at Woolwich Crown Court and on Friday 25 June 2021, was sentenced to five years and ten months’ imprisonment. He was also disqualified from driving for a total of five years.

Detective Superintendent Shaun White of Kent Police said: ‘The team have been relentless in pursuing county line dealers and doing everything possible to safeguard the vulnerable people targeted by these criminals.

‘We will continue to use all the resources available to us to target and dismantle the county line drug dealing network operating in the county. The people behind these criminal gangs have a detrimental impact on the quality of life for residents and prey on vulnerable people.

‘My team will continue to disrupt these dealers and do everything in their power to put dealers behind bars.’