THREE men have been charged as part of an ongoing police investigation to proactively tackle drug-related crime.

Connor Downman, 18 of Montreal Road, Tilbury, Ross Ward, 19 of London Road, Grays and Hezron Hylton, 21 of Rapier Close, Purfleet were all arrested following warrants, which were conducted on Tuesday, 5 July.

They appeared at Southend Magistrates Court after being charged with being concerned in the supply of cannabis and possession with intent to supply cannabis. Ross Ward was also charged with possession with intent to supply cocaine and remanded into custody.

PC Mason Doyle, from the Essex Police Operation Raptor Team said "Our team work tirelessly every day, gathering intelligence and adopting specialised tactics in order to target offenders when they least expect it.

In many cases, these warrants would not be possible without the intelligence we receive from members of the public, who may be concerned about drug related crime in Essex.

You may think that a house having multiple visitors at all hours is not suspicious or the smell of cannabis is not worth reporting, but this could be key intelligence we need to continue tackling drug dealing in Essex. We need the public to see the bigger picture to help us build the bigger picture of serious organised crime in our county and consequently tackle it.

"Our goal is to make it clear that drugs are not welcome in Essex and create a hostile environment for drug dealers, knife carriers and gang members to make Essex and altogether safe."