A man from Essex has been sentenced for dealing heroin and crack cocaine across county lines into West Sussex and across the South East.
Aaron Murray (main picture), 25, of Tideswell Close, Braintree, Essex, was sentenced to a total of five years and six months imprisonment when he appeared in custody at Hove Crown Court last Thursday (Nov 11), having admitted to charges of dealing Class A drugs.
Kieron Dice (above), 19, of Antlers Hill, London, E4, had been sentenced to three years imprisonment at Lewes Crown Court on 15 January, also having admitted being involved in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin.
The pair had been in their car in north east London in September 2020 when they were stopped by the Metropolitan Police.
Mobile phones were found with numbers linked to a drugs operation called 'Rocky' that had been running between London and Crawley for several months.
The intelligence and digital forensic work also revealed that Murray and Dice had been operating the 'Hollywood' County Line from north east London into Essex, Suffolk, and across the South East, for several months.
Officers from Sussex, from the Metropolitan Police 'Operation Orochi' team which works with surrounding forces to track down County Lines dealers from London, and from Suffolk Constabulary, combined to bring Murray and Dice to justice.
Detective Inspector Alan Pack of the West Sussex Community Investigations Team said:
"This is another example of the way police forces can work together across boundaries to bring to justice drug dealers who try to bring misery to our communities for financial profit."
During the investigation a Suffolk officer, Detective Constable Dave Murphy from their Serious Crime Disruption Team established that a phone number associated to the 'Hollywood' business was a drugs line operating in Sudbury in Suffolk. Further enquiries established Sussex Police had seized the relevant phone number and mobile device and DC Murphy provided key evidence to Sussex officers to show it was a drugs line linked to Suffolk.
DC Murphy said:
“This collaborative working with other forces demonstrates how collectively we can bring great results. These carefully planned operations have a powerful impact in terms of shutting down a significant number of County Lines at their source with immediate results."
For information about how police work to combat County Lines activity in Sussex and what you can do to help, see the Sussex Police website.
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