Police make dozens of county lines arrests in Hastings and Eastbourne

The raids, which were part of Sussex Police's county lines drugs crackdown called operation Centurion, targeted homes in Eastbourne, Hastings and London at 5.30am on Wednesday, May 4.

Officers seized £300,000 in cash as well as around 5,000 wraps of crack cocaine and heroin.

A further seven kilograms of cocaine and two kilograms of heroin were also found, along with four phones suspected of being used in the running of county drug lines between Sussex, Surrey and Norwich.

There were 19 drugs warrants issued for properties, resulting in 18 arrests on suspicion of involvement in the supply of class A drugs.

After one of the raids in Hastings

Chief superintendent Katy Woolford, divisional commander for East Sussex, said: "This complex and well-coordinated operation has resulted from months of planning and intelligence development, in which our colleagues from London have played a key role.

"This effort has led to a substantial quantity of dangerous Class A drugs being seized, removing them from circulation and protecting people from harm.

"There is much work still to be done, but we believe this activity will significantly affect the ability of groups who seek to bring drugs into our communities."

Four arrests were made at Hughenden Road

Operation Centurion is a collaborative effort between Surrey, Sussex and the Metropolitan Police, with 150 lines being disrupted and more than 260 people arrested across both counties.

The work of Centurion's teams includes analysis from mobile phones used by dealers to buy and sell class A drugs.

This information is critical to investigators, helping them target the most significant members of organised crime groups and ensuring long-term disruption.

Officers raiding one of the houses

Ch Supt Woolford added: "County lines and other methods of drug dealing continue to be a threat across Sussex and in many other force areas, but we are making inroads as these results demonstrate.

"We are grateful for the support of our colleagues elsewhere in the country and will continue to work closely with other forces to crack down on this dangerous and criminal behaviour."

Detective chief inspector Dan Mitchell, from the Met Police’s Operation Orochi team, said: “Our collaboration with Sussex has resulted in 18 dangerous individuals being arrested for serious offences and we will continue to work together in order to bear down on drug dealing and the violence it causes.”