A MALDON man at the centre of a big drugs operation has been put behind bars.

Two brothers and their "business partner" have been jailed for a total of 25 years as part of investigation which uncovered more than £470,000 worth of Class A and B drugs. 

Detectives from Essex Police's serious and organised crime unit identified Rahel and Maruf Ahmed and Mohammed Islam as being responsible for a drug supply line across Essex. 

They used WhatsApp group chats named 'Royal Mail' and 'New Amazon Delivery' to bulk buy and sell their drugs and sent large scale messages to customers offering offers and deals on cocaine, heroin, MDMA, cannabis and ketamine.

The trio were arrested on a co-ordinated strike day on 21 January 2025. 

In subsequent searches, police located £30,000 in cash, 1kg of 'pink cocaine', 2kg of cocaine, 50g of MDMA, 72g of heroin and 17kg of cannabis.

Pink cocaine is a substance which is dyed bright pink and does not contain cocaine and instead contains a variety of dangerous and illicit drugs with no set "recipe". As a result, it is highly unpredictable and very dangerous to people who have taken it. 

In total, the substances and cash were valued at £477,655. 

All three men were then charged with drug offences. 

The brothers admitted two counts of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and two counts of conspiracy to supply Class B drugs. 

Islam admitted three counts of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, two counts of conspiracy to supply Class B drugs and possession of criminal property. 

A number of offences will lie on file for all three men. 

They were sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court on Friday, 30 January. 

Rahel Ahmed, 33, of Heron Way, Mayland, was sentenced to a total of nine years in jail.

Maruf Ahmed, 22, of Dryden Close, Maldon, was sentenced to seven years and six months in jail for the drug offences. He was also sentenced for separate traffic matters, which included ramming a police car. He received a further nine months for those offences to be served consecutively.

A previous suspended sentence was also activated, and he was sentenced to a further three months, leaving his total sentence as eight years and six months in prison. 

Islam, 39, of Coventry Road, Ilford, was sentenced to a total of seven years and six months in prison. 

All three will be pursued by police financial investigators through the Proceeds of Crime Act and items seized will be forfeited and destroyed. 

DS Kirsty Morgan said: "These three men controlled a drugs line which preyed on vulnerable people in Essex – in order to make a criminal profit. 

"They believed they could operate with impunity and supply illicit substances in our community – including the highly unpredictable drug known as 'pink cocaine'. 

"These arrests, charges and sentences show that is not the case and they'll now face a substantial time in prison. Whilst they're there, we'll be using the tools available to us through the Proceeds of Crime Act to identify their profits, their assets and claw back every penny we can."