Neighbourhood officers in Maidstone have been ramping up their efforts to disrupt organised criminal activity in the town centre.
According to Kent Police, a series of warrants have been carried out on businesses suspected of illegal activity as well as selling illicit tobacco and counterfeit goods.
In the past 6 months, 13 businesses have been closed down or evicted from the premises due to the persistent actions of officers with the help of partners such as Trading Standards. Nine people have also been arrested in connection with the work.
During these visits, officers found and seized a large quantity of illicit tobacco, cocaine, cannabis, cash and drug paraphernalia.
Some of the items were tucked away in secret hides or stored away from the business premises in an attempt to hide the activity, with some of the cigarettes allegedly being sold out of vehicles in car parks in the town centre.
Beat officer PC Tom Cunningham said:‘We’ve been looking into shops in the town centre and building intelligence to identify the businesses that are linked to organised criminal groups and selling illicit and counterfeit goods.
"These products put members of the community at risk, and we are being proactive in finding these items and removing them from our town centre and holding those responsible to account.
"As we’ve carried out our enforcement, these businesses have been adapting to try and evade us, however, we’ve carried on adapting ourselves and as a result we’ve shut down or evicted 14 businesses and arrested several people.
"This sends a clear message to those involved that we will continue to find businesses who are ignoring the law and close them down to keep Maidstone safe."