Over £1.3m worth of drugs and cash seized by Essex Police in 2021
Over 300 people were charged with drugs offences in the county last year
Last updated 9th Feb 2022
Essex Police took over £1.3m worth of drugs and cash off the streets of the county last year.
Officers from Operation Raptor, a specialist team targeting drug dealing, charged more than 330 people during the year.
Police seized £808,000 worth of various drugs and £569,000 worth of cash thought to be connected to the drugs trade.
148 people have been sentenced to time in prison, with the average sentence being three and a half years in prison.
Operation Raptor also tries to help young people who've become caught up in drug dealing/
Last year 97 people were safeguarded and helped to avoid a life of crime by working with social services.
Police also shut down several 'county lines' drug dealing operations, including the 'Dollar Line', which was supplying Class A drugs in the Southend and Westcliff areas.
Among those jailed last year were the 'Mali Boys' gang, which received a combined 18 years behind bars.
In the first week of January officers in North Essex have charged several men in connection with drug supply in the Colcester and Clacton areas.
Benjamin Carter, 34 of Spucewood Close, in Liverpool, has been charged with two counts of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.
Leslie Major, 54, of Salmon Close, Clacton, has also been charged in connection with our investigation.
A Colchester man is due in court next week charged with Class A drugs offences.