Braintree: Cash and weapon seized as drugs officers secure charges

Specialist drugs officers have secured charges against a man following an investigation into a suspected county line supplying Class A substances in Braintree.

Op Raptor North officers have spent months working to disrupt an illicit operation bringing heroin and crack cocaine from London to the streets of Braintree.

This work culminated in coordinated action on Thursday 9 May, with a vehicle stop and warrant executed in Braintree, and a further warrant executed at an address in Stratford, London.

The vehicle stop resulted in an arrest and the seizure of cash and a suspected drug line phone.

From the Stratford address, a large sum of cash and an offensive weapon – a baton – were seized.

Charges have since been authorised against Dylan Martin, 31, of Wellby Close, London.

He is charged with being concerned in the supply of heroin and crack cocaine, possessing an offensive weapon in a private place and possessing criminal property.

He appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on Saturday 11 May and was remanded in custody until a hearing at Chelmsford Crown Court on Monday 10 June.

Responding to rising concerns

Detective Sergeant Jonathan Stephenson, of Raptor North, said:

“We have worked with community policing team colleagues to tackle rising concerns within Braintree around drug dealing, which we can associate directly to a drug line of interest.
“Within our Raptor teams, we target these lines, monitor and gather evidence, before conducting strikes against them.
“It’s absolutely vital where residents see and become aware of drug activity, they report these issues to us.
“Even if an immediate response isn’t apparent, there is always work going on behind the scenes and these reports help us hugely in building up a picture of where issues are arising.”

Ongoing work to tackle this drug line has been supported by our innovative Operation Grip – which sees targeted patrols dedicated to hotspot areas in Braintree and across the county.

These patrols are used to combat issues such as drug-driven violence and possession of weapons.

Grip sees uniformed officers out on daily foot patrols in areas that data analysis shows have a higher probability of a serious violent incident.

Four of the hotspots are in Southend, with three in Basildon, two in Colchester, and one in each of Chelmsford, Harlow, Clacton, Braintree, Grays and Brentwood.

Are you worried that a friend or someone you know may be being exploited through County Lines or organised criminal activity?

Maybe they are returning home late, staying out all night or even going missing for days or weeks at a time.

Are they suddenly being secretive about who they are talking to or where they are going?

Or perhaps you’ve noticed they have large amounts of money on them, or new clothing, jewellery or phones they wouldn’t be able to afford.

Through Fearless, young people can pass on information 100% anonymously to get help.

If you need help from police, call 101 or, if it's an emergency, always call 999.

What you know could be the missing puzzle piece we’re looking for.

We know that information held by our communities can help us to keep people safe and catch criminals.

We also know that our communities need to trust that we will listen to them and take action when we need to.

Our Police Intelligence page explains what happens when you tell us something you've seen or heard. It explains what to expect and what we need to know when you give us information. 

If you see or hear something that doesn’t seem right or causes you concern, we want you to tell us about it.