TWO brothers have been put behind bars after police from The Essex force's Operation Raptor team put an end to their activities.

Robert and Marshall Dakadzwi have been jailed for four years and two months and four years and three months respectively.

The pair had been running a drug line in Basildon between 1 December 2020 and 24 June 2021 with a network of runners working for them.

Through painstaking investigative work, including identifying phone numbers attributed to the pair and analysing call and message data, officers were able to uncover their cocaine distribution web.

During a search of Marshall's home in Cranfield Park Avenue, Benfleet, officers seized a burner phone linked to the drug line and another previously linked to it, three grams of cocaine, digital scales covered in suspected cocaine, £890 in cash, and lottery tickets.

At Robert's home in Bourne Close, Basildon, officers seized a phone on which they found conversations relating to the running of drugs, £1,800 in cash, plastic wraps, digital scales, a small amount of cocaine, and printed photos of him holding large bundles of cash.

Marshall, 30, and 25 year-old Robert were both charged with conspiracy to supply Class A drug.

They admitted the charge at Southend Magistrates' Court on 27 July and on 13 December were jailed at Basildon Crown Court.

Investigating officer Acting Sergeant Adam Blackwell, from Op Raptor South, said: "Drugs ruin lives and destroy communities.

"We relentlessly, painstakingly, and methodically identify, target, and take down those involved in selling them.

"We won't stop. If you sell drugs, we will come for you and we will get you.

"Marshall and Robert Dakadzwi are evidence of this and they're going to spend the next four years behind bars."