Marden Drug Dealer Caught Discarding Cocaine as Officers Moved In

A Marden man has been jailed for three years after a months-long Kent Police investigation caught him trying to discard his drug supply moments before officers arrested him. Dean Smith, 51, of The Cockpit, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply Class A drugs and was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court on 4 August.

The case began not with a raid but with a pattern residents may recognise from their own neighbourhoods: reports of suspicious activity at an address in The Cockpit, where multiple people were seen entering the communal garden and leaving with packages. Officers identified Smith as living there and monitored activity at the property before executing a search warrant on 1 May.

It was the moment of arrest itself that sealed the case. As patrols attended, a PCSO watched Smith get out of a vehicle and discard a package under a parked car - it was recovered and found to contain a quantity of cocaine, evidence that left little room for him to contest the charge.

Investigating officer PC John Cockrill credited the community with helping build the case: "drug dealing has such a detrimental impact on a community, and we'd like to thank the local people who assisted us to bring this criminal to justice." He added that anyone who spots suspicious activity in their own area should report it, saying such information "could be vital and assist us to remove an ongoing problem." Source: Kent Police