More than 800 years in jail for drug dealers arrested over 2023 in Essex
Essex police arrested and jailed drug dealers throughout several operations over the course of 2023
Last updated 31st Dec 2023
Specialist teams at Essex Police and the Serious Violence Unit locked up drug dealers for combined sentences of more than 800 years, over the course of 2023.
The force was able to further safeguard more than 400 vulnerable people across a relentless year of action.
The force's Serious Violence Unit, which was set up in 2023, has enabled the dismantlement of drug gangs and seriously reduce violence across Essex.
In 12 months alone to November 2023, the unit arrested 440 people, with 305 charged and remanded.
In addition to arrests and gangs dismantlement, officers seized 83 weapons, including knives and blades, and took an approximate 6kg in illicit substances off the streets.
Operation Raptor has been particularly successful, for which the team uses gang injunctions, which can be utilised after police build cases on drug dealers and before they even make the arrest.
Detective Superintendent Gary Biddle, who leads the unit, said: "As a unit and across our many teams, we are never static in how we approach this complex issue."
“We have recognised that enforcement can only be one side of our job if we are to make a tangible difference in reducing drug activity and serious violence in Essex."
“We have, throughout the year, looked instead at a whole system approach, encompassing safeguarding and the diversion of exploited people away from a self-perpetuating life of crime.
A prime focus for the force has been to tackle county lines, with officers analysing mobile phone usage and text messages closely which are believed to be linked to those in the supply chain.
Specialist officers secured gang injunctions against 16 people in Thurrock, including eight teenagers, as part of their efforts to dismantle gangs in the area.
Det Supt Biddle added: “We of course continue to lead the way on enforcement, dismantling complex drug supply operations and locking up hardened criminals, but we have made real strides in how we deal with those who are also victims, exploited by those further up the chain to do their dirty work."
“Be it through cuckooing – the use of a vulnerable person’s home as a base for criminality – or through the exploitation of children as drug runners, we have seen progress in how we work with partners to steer those impacted away from a damaging path.”
Essex Police are encouraging the public to be weary of unusual activity to help the force continue to tackle crime across the county.