ROJAY Hutton of no fixed address in Harlow was sentenced to 42 months’ in a Young Offender Institution at Chelmsford Crown Court on November 18, 2016.
The 18-year-old was arrested in a wooded area in Green Hills, Harlow at around 2pm on September 9, 2016 after officers from Operation Raptor received intelligence about drug dealing in the area.
Officers found Hutton carrying a packet of suspected class A drugs which he tried to swallow before being restrained.
The packet was later found to contain wraps of crack cocaine weighing just over 5 grams.
Hutton was charged with possession with intent to supply crack cocaine and pleaded guilty to the offence.
The court made an order for the drugs to be destroyed under the Misuse of Drugs Act and Hutton was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £170.
Operation Raptor teams have been created in the North, South and West Local Policing Areas (LPA) to detect and disrupt gangs who travel to Essex to deal drugs and cause violence.
Pc Jack Etheridge from the Operation Raptor team in the West LPA said: “I hope this case reassures members of the public that our team does act on information we receive from local residents.
“We have a variety of policing tactics which we will continue to use to take drug dealers off the streets of Essex. However much of our work is intelligence led so we would ask anyone with information about drug dealing where the live to contact us by calling 101.
Anyone who would rather not speak to police can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”