The County Lines and Gangs Team conducted an investigation and identified Aaron Clarke as the person responsible for the Koby line. On May 24, 2022, he was arrested at a property in Bedfordshire and charged with being involved in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin. Following a trial at Maidstone Crown Court, the 27-year-old of no fixed address was found guilty of two counts and sentenced to seven years in prison on January 4, 2023. Officers first became aware of Clarke when he was arrested in August 2021 and a phone was seized, which contained messages between drug users referencing class A drugs. Clarke was released on bail while the investigation was ongoing, but officers received information that the county line had reopened, so he was arrested in May 2022 and another phone was seized. Messages between drug users were also discovered on the phone. ‘The misuse of drugs can cause misery in people’s lives, and we are sending a very clear message to criminals that this behaviour will not be tolerated,’ said Detective Constable Robert Parker of the County Lines and Gangs Team. There is no place in Kent for people who sell class A drugs, and we will work tirelessly to prevent those from entering the county in order to prey on vulnerable people.
