Drug-runners who operated a "county lines" chain of supply from London into Medway are now behind bars.

David Mundle, 23, of Clarence Avenue, London, ran the so-called Pepsi Line into Medway.

He used a number of addresses and runners in the area to store and sell the drugs.

He was assisted by Sadjo Diakite, 21, of Miranda Close, Coventry, who was found inside one of the addresses with large quantities of heroin and crack cocaine when police swooped during an operation on July 26 last year.

When Mundle was arrested last November he was found to be in possession of 362 wraps of heroin and the phone running the Pepsi Line.

Mundle has been jailed for five years and Diakite for three years and four months after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.

A second chain of supply into the Medway Towns, known as the Jeezy Line, has also been smashed.

The line was run by Shemiah Bell, 27 of Tilson Gardens, London.

He was assisted by Kyle Milton, 18 of Tilson Gardens, also in London.

On June 20 last year homeless Geoffrey Allen, 56, was stopped in Castle Road, Chatham, and found to be in possession of 16 wraps of Class A drugs and a mobile phone linking him to the Jeezy Line.

In August 2018 police visited Grange Hill, Chatham, and found Ryeene Cowan, 24, of Fenton Close, London, inside with more than 600 wraps of Class A drugs.

Examination of phone data showed Cowan was in regular contact with the Jeezy Line.

Bell was jailed for four years and eight months and Milton was sentenced to two years imprisonment, suspended for two years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply.

Cowan was jailed for seven-and-a-half years after admitting the same offence, and Allen, who pleaded not guilty but was convicted at trial, was jailed for three years.

They were among 16 gang members who have been jailed for more than 61 years for running Class A drugs through five County Lines chains across the South East after a joint operation by the Met’s specialist crime south unit and Kent Police’s operation raptor.

Operation raptor teams focus on disrupting and dismantling criminals linked to county lines, drugs, and the exploitation of vulnerable people.

The two other lines disrupted were the "Si Line" into Bognor Regis in Sussex, and the "AJ line" which operated in towns and villages on the borders of Berkshire, Hampshire and Surrey.

Police said the methods used in each of them, were similar.

The line-holders managed the lines from London, directing younger members of the gang to ‘cuckoo’ addresses in the Home Counties to conduct sales from. These addresses often belonged to local drug users.

The police investigation concluded in November last year when more than 200 officers raided nine addresses in London.

They seized a large quantity of Class A and B drugs, approximately £10,000 in cash and a range of suspected stolen goods.

DI Anthony Jones from the Met's specialist crime south said: "This investigation is the result of months of hard work carried out by my officers in close collaboration with colleagues from Kent Police.

"They all showed exceptional commitment in bringing these 16 offenders to justice."

DCI Gavin Moss, from Kent Police’s crime investigation department, said: "The sentences imposed send out an unmistakable message that there is no place for county lines drug dealing.

“These offenders were all looking to make money from people living with drug misuse and cared little about the harm they were causing to numerous communities. The length of time they will spend in prison reflects the seriousness of such offending.

“The result from this case is a testament to the close partnership work between our Medway operation raptor team and the Metropolitan Police.

“Our teams will continue to work alongside the Metropolitan Police to identify and pro-actively target those involved in county lines drug dealing."

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