Southend/Basildon: Five charged in strikes against two drug lines

“These are five key charges in our enforcement against suspected drug lines fuelling criminality in Essex.
“That’s just over the space of a few days – and it’s only a snapshot of the work taking place, often out of sight and behind the scenes.
“We know it is the trade in crack cocaine and heroin which fuels the majority of incidents involving weapons, violence and exploitation in our county.”

Those are the words of Detective Chief Inspector Neal Miller, who heads up our Operation Raptor teams.

These teams, working as part of our wider Serious Violence Unit, work day and night to build cases against drug dealers intent on causing issues in Essex.

In the south of the county, these officers recently disrupted two identified drug lines in Basildon and Southend, which operated under the brand names ‘Tommy’ and ‘Raff’.

Enforcement against these lines has seen five people charged and put before the courts.

It’s also seen a live firearm, cash, drugs and a suspected stolen moped recovered by our officers.

Basildon investigation

The ‘Tommy’ line was identified as supplying crack cocaine and heroin in the Basildon area.

This particular line was linked to a prior report of a person being chased by suspects armed with knives.

A warrant was executed at an address in Basildon on Thursday 24 April and a teenage boy was arrested.

Inside the property, a bag was found to contain a Retay-brand blank firing pistol which had been converted to fire live ammunition.

Retay pistols are among the four brands of Turkish manufactured top-venting blank firearms (TVBF) to be outlawed following a well-publicised national amnesty scheme.

Across the amnesty in Essex in February this year, a total of 31 TVBFs were handed in at police station front counters, after the guns were found to be readily convertible into viable firearms.

Anyone found in possession of a TVBF – even if the gun has not been converted – could be subject to prosecution and face up to 10 years’ imprisonment.

A three-figure sum of cash and wraps of suspected cocaine and heroin were also recovered from the Basildon address.

A moped, suspected to have been stolen, was further seized.

A 16-year-old boy, from Basildon, has since been charged with a litany of offences, including:

• Being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin.
• Possession with intent to supply Class A and C drugs.
• Possession of ammunition for a firearm without a certificate.
• Possession of a firearm less than 30cm long – prohibited weapon.
• Handling stolen goods.

He’s due to appear before a youth court on Tuesday 29 April.

Southend investigation

Separately to this case, four men have been charged with supplying crack cocaine, heroin and cannabis following an investigation into a drug line operating from London to supply Class A drugs on the streets of Southend.

This investigation centres on the ‘Raff’ line, which was identified as supplying crack cocaine and heroin to users in Southend since April 2024.

Following lengthy inquiries, three simultaneous warrants were executed at addresses in Hertfordshire and London on Wednesday 23 April.

Four arrests were made, with mobile phones and a quantity of cannabis seized.

Charges have since been secured against:

• Jay Taylor, 25, of Mill End, Rickmansworth, charged with conspiring to supply Class A drugs and being concerned in the supply of a Class B drug.
• Dillon Flemming, 18, of Pinner, Greater London, charged with conspiring to supply Class A drugs, being concerned in the supply of a Class B drug and possession with intent to supply a Class B drug.
• Kaelan Stafford, 20, of Selsdon Park Road, South Croydon, charged with conspiring to supply Class A drugs and being concerned in the supply of a Class B drug.
• Juniour Brown, 20, of Drayton Gardens, West Drayton, charged with conspiring to supply Class A drugs.

All four remain in custody and are due to appear at Basildon Crown Court on Thursday 22 May.

'No room for drug lines to operate'

DCI Miller added:

“Each drug line identified, disrupted and eventually dismantled by my officers is another step taken towards eliminating knife crime, disorder and anti-social behaviour on the streets of Southend and Basildon.
“Incidents of violence involving weapons on our streets remain rare, and typically we find they are confined to criminal groups known to each other.
“We know how important it is for the public to see and understand that we’re working hard to stamp out the wider supply of drugs fuelling this unacceptable behaviour.
“This type of enforcement is business as usual for my teams, but we also have dedicated safeguarding officers who work with partners to help those exploited or harmed by drug dealing activity.
“Just last week, this wider prevention work saw us secure two Slavery and Trafficking Prevention Orders, alongside more than 19 years in prison sentences, for two drug dealers in the north of the county.
“They had exploited three missing children to work for their drug line.
“Our message and the evidence is clear: There’s no room for county lines drug gangs to operate with impunity in Essex.”

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.

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