TWO men have been jailed for their roles in a county lines drug dealing operation.

Drug dealer Hazret Avdyli was arrested on the balcony of a flat he’d been visiting in Littlehampton in October last year, trying to evade police.

The 26-year-old was found in possession of a 'deal line' phone which had been used as part of a County Lines operation known as the 'Joey' line.

County lines is a term used by police to refer to drug networks from large urban areas such as London, who use children, young people and vulnerable adults to carry out illegal activity on their behalf.

Avdyli, of Eltham Green Road, London, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to four years in prison for the supply of both crack cocaine and heroin in the Littlehampton area from London.

Abdullah Omar was found guilty of the supply of heroin and crack cocaine in the Bognor area and was sentenced to eight years in prison.

Sussex Police said the 33-year-old had played a significant role in the running of the 'Henry' drugs line into the area from London.

Omar, of Mountfield Road, London, had only been released from prison on licence in May 2019, half way through an 11 year sentence for the same offence.

Detective Inspector Alan Pack, head of the West Sussex Community Investigation Team, said: "Both these sentencings resulted from close co-operation between ourselves and colleagues in the Metropolitan Police and Surrey Police, with support from our own colleagues in the Sussex Police Specialist Enforcement Unit.

"County Line drug dealing continues to be a threat across Sussex. The force's primary concern remains the exploitation and trafficking of vulnerable adults and children and we continue to put dealers under more pressure every month."

In the past 18 months, the Sussex Police intelligence team known as Operation Centurion have arrested 260 individuals and disrupted more than 140 drug lines.

​Their work includes analysis from mobile phones used by dealers to buy and sell Class A drugs.