A London drug dealer who supplied heroin and crack cocaine to people in Canterbury has been put behind bars.

Amir Khan, 23, was arrested in January as part of a Kent Police investigation into a drugs county line operating from Woolwich into Canterbury.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply class A drugs in October and November last year.

A county line is a mobile telephone number used for the marketing and sale of class A drugs, and is often run by criminal groups in the capital who send runners into other counties in order to reach new customers.

Evidence shows Khan was controlling a line supplying drugs to Canterbury.

In October, a police searched a Ford Fiesta parked in Hanover Place where they found a small cylinder metal tub containing 16 wraps of crack cocaine and 41 wraps of heroin.

Cell site data showed that Khan had travelled to Ramsgate that day to meet with the owner of the car in which the drugs were found.

Investigating officer DC Peter Frampton said: "Khan was linked to a telephone number that we knew sent out bulk messages daily to drug users in the Canterbury area offering class A drugs.

"Telephone cell site data showed that Khan was in control of the communications of the line and regularly travelled into east Kent to deliver the drugs."

'He made regular trips to the city to deliver heroin and crack cocaine, happy to make money out of the suffering of others' - DC Peter Frampton

Khan was arrested in Plumstead High Street on January 17. He answered no comment during police interviews but later admitted the two offences.

The drug dealer, of Old Kent Road, London, will spend six years and two months in prison following sentencing at Lewes Crown Court.

DC Frampton said: "The arrest was made as part of an ongoing initiative known as Operation Raptor, which is designed to tackle, disrupt and prevent violent crime and the possession of offensive weapons, as well as the supply of class A drugs.

"We have evidence that Amir Khan was running this drug line into Canterbury from Woolwich and made regular trips to the city to deliver heroin and crack cocaine, happy to make money out of the suffering of others.

"Kent Police will continue to target the people who supply illegal drugs in our communities. I hope this jail sentence serves as a timely reminder of just how seriously the police and courts take county lines drug activity."

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