A 25-year-old from Braintree has been jailed for his role in running a county lines drugs dealing in Suffolk.

Aaron Murray, 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 on Thursday, November 11, having previously admitted being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin.

Kieron Dice, 19, of Antlers Hill, London, E4, had been sentenced to three years imprisonment at Lewes Crown Court on January 15, also having admitted being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin.

Murray and Dice had been in a car stopped by Metropolitan Police officers in north east London in September 2020. In the car were found mobile phones already linked by police intelligence work to the 'Rocky' County Drugs line that had been moving drugs from that area of London into 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.

During the investigation a Suffolk officer, detective constable Dave Murphy from the Serious Crime Disruption Team, established that a phone number associated to the 'Hollywood' business was a drugs line operating in Sudbury.

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."