Moped Rider Arrested in Tonbridge, Illegal Tobacco Seized Near Aylesford as Kent-Wide Crime Crackdown Reaches West Kent

A two-week Kent Police operation targeting organised crime and immigration offences across the county took in three separate incidents in West Kent, the force has said: a drug arrest after a delivery rider tried to flee a patrol in Tonbridge, a seizure of illegal tobacco and cash near Aylesford, and a visa-breach investigation involving a delivery driver in Maidstone. They were part of a wider, county-wide operation between 21 September and 7 October that led to 22 arrests in total.

Officers in Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells carried out proactive checks on fast-food delivery drivers, and on 23 September one rider tried to make off from a patrol. He was arrested for drug offences and dangerous driving, and his moped was seized. Separately, two suspicious vehicles were stopped on an industrial estate near Aylesford, leading to the recovery of illicit imported tobacco worth around £5,000, along with £2,000 in cash. In Maidstone, a man working as a delivery driver was found to be doing so in breach of his visa conditions; the business that employed him is now under investigation by Immigration Enforcement.

The West Kent incidents were part of a fortnight of targeted enforcement across the whole county, combining checks on Kent's rail and road networks with multi-agency inspections of high street businesses including vape shops, nail bars and convenience stores, supported by Immigration Enforcement, Trading Standards and local authority teams. In a joint operation with Metropolitan and Essex Police at the Dartford Crossing, officers stopped scores of vehicles, leading to arrests on suspicion of drug dealing and burglary, and the detention of a man wanted on a European Arrest Warrant for smuggling offences abroad. Inspections of shops in east Kent and Swale led to further seizures of illegal tobacco, with closure orders now being sought against some premises.

Detective Chief Inspector Zoe Wilczek said: "Kent Police is determined that organised crime groups seeking to use the county's travel networks undetected, or establish themselves in our town centre businesses, fear the distinct possibility of blue lights appearing in the rear-view mirror or an early morning knock on their front door. This enforcement over two weeks has shown the value of targeted stop checks of vehicles and multi-agency inspections of certain high street businesses. It is through this robust action that criminals will be deterred or detained, and exploited vulnerable victims safeguarded from harm." Source: Kent Police