MORE than £21 million worth of Class A drugs and £1.85 million in cash has been seized as part of one of the largest hauls in the history of Essex Police.
A total of 155.5kg of Class A drugs has been recovered by police since May 1 - which has also led to the arrests of 13 people.
This has included the discovery of 138kg of cocaine and 8kg of heroin, with a combined street value of £20 million, in a lorry at Harwich International Port on June 1.
A 43 year-old man, Marcin Jadasz, from Prudnik, in Poland, was arrested and has since been charged with two counts of importing a Class A drug with intent to evade a prohibition or restriction.
His arrest was part of an international operation, led in the UK by the National Crime Agency to tackle serious and organised crime which involved the take down of an encrypted global communication service used exclusively by criminals.
EncroChat offered a secure mobile phone instant messaging service for about 10,000 users in the UK.
The primary use was for co-ordinating criminal activities including money laundering.
Since 2016, the NCA has worked with international law enforcement agencies to target EncroChat, and other encrypted criminal communications platforms.
Some of this intelligence involved the sale of Class A drugs in Essex and police have worked with the NCA and the Eastern Region Serious Operations Unit to co-ordinate a series of operations.
Detective Chief Inspector Lee Morton, from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, said: “These operations highlight our determination to disrupt serious and organised crime operating in Essex.
“In the last eight weeks we have seen some of the largest seizures of drugs and cash in the history of Essex Police and we’ve prevented a significant amount of drugs from getting into our communities.
“These results signify a substantial blow to organised crime in our county.
“Drugs cause misery in our communities and the selling of drugs is often linked to violence on our streets and the exploitation of vulnerable people. We will not tolerate this and will continue to disrupt the activities of those involved and work to bring them to justice.”
“These operations also highlight how we are keeping you safe through excellent partnership working with organisations such as the National Crime Agency, the Eastern Region Serious Operations Unit, and Border Force.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article