A man who was arrested in connection to a county lines operation from Woolwich into Canterbury has been jailed.

On October 24, 2018 officers from Canterbury’s Community Policing Team searched a Ford Fiesta parked in Hanover Place, Canterbury, and found a small cylinder metal tub containing 16 wraps of crack cocaine and 41 wraps of heroin.

Cell site data showed that 23-year-old Amir Khan, of Old Kent Road in London, had travelled to Ramsgate that day to meet with the owner of the car in which the drugs were found. It also placed him in Canterbury at the time officers searched the car.

Khan was arrested in Plumstead High Street on January 17 this year.

He answered no comment during police interviews but admitted the two offences when he appeared at Canterbury Crown Court on February 25.

Investigating officer DC Peter 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."

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.

At a hearing in Lewes Crown Court on March 18, Khan was jailed for six years and two months.