Police raids in Strood, Gravesend, Tonbridge and Whistable in organised crime investigation

Officers have raided several properties across Kent today in a crackdown against organised crime.

A house on an estate just off Cuxton Road, Strood, was one of the homes, with its front door being smashed in.

Kent Police raid homes in organised crime crackdown

Vans, cars and plain clothed police had gathered at around 5am at the Hollywood Bowl in Strood waiting for the final instruction to go ahead.

Officers ran inside the property with sniffer dogs brought in to search.

Shortly afterwards, an arrested man was brought out in handcuffs. He is currently being held in custody.

The raid formed part of a wider investigation by the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate which carried out 28 warrants across the South East, targetting 17 individuals connected with organised crime.

Fourteen warrants took place in Rochester, Chatham, Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells, Longfield, Wrotham, Ashford, Gravesend, Strood, West Kingsdown, Whitstable and Platt.

While seven took place in Sussex, three in London, two in Essex and two in Suffolk.

By breakfast time, each of the 17 targeted individuals were in police custody where they remain as inquires continue.

Nine men have been arrested on suspicion of a variety of drug supply offences which include conspiring to supply large quantities of cocaine. They are aged between 28 and 50.

A further seven men and one woman, aged between 29 and 53, have also been arrested on suspicion of a variety fraud offences which include money laundering, conspiring to cheat the public revenue and concealing criminal property.

Police in a joint operation with HMRC were targetting people suspected to be involved in complex fraud or supplying huge quantities of cocaine.

Alleged financial wrongdoing includes money laundering, tax fraud and falsely claiming Covid-19 bounce back loans.

More than £400,000 in cash was seized alongside 41 luxury watches, two cars and a huge amount of designer goods and artwork.

Assistant Chief Constable Andy Pritchard said: "The operation today was really an accumulation of two years' worth of really excellent detective work working with partners such as the HMRC and the Crown Prosecution Service to really unpack what is some really significant fraud defrauding of the public purse using construction, industry, using Covid bounce back loans to create loads of fronts which have actually created an enormous amount of wealth.

"Also including the supply and distribution of Class A drugs, so this is organised crime group that we are really confident today, we have dismantled from the bottom always through to the top.

"These people have been operating in a very complex sophistic method trying to lie below the eye of the HMRC and and indeed Kent police on this occasion.

"What they have done has amassed them an enormous amount of wealth which have been living the enjoyment of that wealth in the way they lead their lifestyles, but the reality was in the background you cannot hide.

"We can chase the money we can follow those trails and we have been able to identify exactly what has been going on working really closely to unpack the whole network and what we believe we have done.

"It has really now dismantled that significant criminality."