Five people have been arrested and cocaine worth more than £8,000 seized after police in Maidstone town centre began to suspect a car was being used for drug dealing.

They stopped the car in Hardy Street last Wednesday and a search led to the seizure of cocaine, cash and mobile phones. The occupants, two men, were arrested.

Officers then searched a house in the town centre connected to the men and found a large number of cocaine deals in a safe.

A 35-year-old woman who was present at this property was then also detained.

Subsequently they searched a connected address in Tenterden where they seized £10,000 in cash in a second safe.

Two further suspects at the premises, a man and a woman, were also arrested and taken into custody.

Rica-ciprian Dusan, of High Street, Tenterden was later charged with possession of cocaine with intent to supply and possessing criminal property, namely the cash seized.

The 32-year-old appeared before Medway Magistrates’ Court on Friday and was remanded to a hearing at Maidstone Crown Court on August 5.

Two men aged 41 and 18 and two women aged 36 and 35, were bailed to return to the police station on July 30, pending further investigations.