Two dealers who ran network of “drug runners” in Thurrock jailed

Olakunle Ekundayo and Sean Allen have been jailed (credit: Essex Police)

Two drug dealers working for a county lines gang in Thurrock have been jailed.

Olakunle Ekundayo, 28, and Sean Allen, 28, worked for the ‘Mitch’ drug line from their home in Hackney, co-ordinating ‘drug runners’ to sell crack cocaine and heroin on the streets of Thurrock.

The pair were arrested after their car was stopped in Grays in March 2018, as part of a police operation named Op Raptor.

Drugs were found and a mobile phone was seized from the driver, who was also arrested.

After studying the seized phone, the Op Raptor team were able to identify Ekundayo and Allen and establish their involvement in the county lines gang.

A large amount of mobile phones, sim cards, and documents were found in Allen’s home address, in Amhurst Road.

Officers also found cocaine, crack cocaine, and heroin at Ekundayo’s home in Sandringham Road.

Examinations of mobile phone’s taken from each address were also evidence of both men’s involvement in the sale of drugs.

Allen was charged with two counts of being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine, one count of being concerned in the supply of heroin, and one count of possession of cannabis.

Ekundayo was charged with being concerned in the supply of heroin, being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine, and possession with intent to supply heroin.

Initially they denied the charges but later changed their pleas to guilty.

On Wednesday, 1 April, Ekundayo was jailed for four years and Allen was sentenced to three years in prison.

Detective Inspector Scott Fitzmaurice, from the Op Raptor South team, said: “Drug dealing is a blight on our society.

“Wherever it takes place, violence goes alongside it and more often than not it is the most vulnerable people in our communities who are preyed upon.

“Olakunle Ekundayo and Sean Allen ran a network of drug runners from their base in Hackney, putting the poison of crack cocaine and heroin onto Thurrock’s streets.

“Our work has ensured they can no longer do that and we will continue to work to identify other drug dealers, disrupt their activities, and bring them to justice.”

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