A pair behind a county lines operation have been jailed.

Wayne Kassim and Mark Duce used a phone line which advertised drugs to users under the name 'DelBoy'.

Detectives began investigating following a medical incident involving one drug user, who was later found to have bought drugs from 'DelBoy'.

A phone number was also found to have been used to advertise heroin and cocaine in Canterbury, with a VW Beetle and a Vauxhall Mokka owned by Duce believed to be linked to the dealing.

On February 8, 2024, the Vauxhall Mokka was stopped in Kingsmead Road, Canterbury, and Kassim and Duce were both arrested.

The phone used to advertise the drugs was found on Kassim and a ball of heroin was found discarded nearby.

Duce later admitted being concerned in the supply of heroin and cocaine and Kassim was convicted of the same charges, as well as possession of heroin with intent to supply, following a trial.

Duce, 51, of Hillcrest Road, Littlebourne, was jailed for two and a half years at Canterbury Crown Court on Friday, July 12 and Kassim, 39, of Waterlow Road, Maidstone, got a seven-year sentence.

DC Martin Aird, of the county lines and gangs team, said: “Class A drugs of this kind put the lives of users at risk and lead to knock-on crime and violence in the communities where they are sold.

“We will be relentless in tracking down those involved in the trade, bringing them before the courts and taking them off the streets of Kent.”