THREE men have been charged with drugs offences after a Lamborghini and two Mercedes were seized by officers investigating county lines from London to Hampshire.

In the early hours of Tuesday, May 12, officers from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command carried out three simultaneous search warrants at residential addresses in Rigby Close and Scarbrook Road, Croydon, and Derwent Road, London.

A further warrant was carried out at a commercial premise in Beluah Road, Thornton Heath.

Officers arrested five people on suspicion of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs as part of the warrants.

Calvin Hutchinson, 34, of Rigby Close, Croydon, was charged with being in concerned in the supply of Class A drug crack cocaine; being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs (heroin) and acquisition; and use and possession of criminal property.

Aubin Earl Hutchinson, 38, of Rigby Close, Croydon, was charged with being in concerned in the supply of Class A drug crack cocaine; being concerned in the supply of Class A drug heroin and acquisition; and use and possession of criminal property contrary to the proceeds of crime act (2002).

Gavin Byron Griffiths, 41, of Derwent Road, SE20, was charged with being concerned in the supply of class A drug crack cocaine and one charge of being concerned in the supply of Class A drug heroin.

They have been remanded to appear at Portsmouth Magistrates Court today.

A 25-year-old female and 51-year old man were also arrested as part of the warrants, and they have been released under investigation.

During searches of the addresses, officers seized three vehicles, two Mercedes and a green Lamborghini.

It comes as part of a joint investigation by the MPS and Hampshire Constabulary into a County Line being run between London and Hampshire.

Chief Inspector Mark Lynch from Hampshire Constabulary said: “The threat from county lines drug dealing continues to present a significant risk to vulnerable children and adults living within Hampshire, despite the current COVID19 restrictions the country finds itself in.

"Please be reassured that despite the operational challenges the pandemic poses to us and other front line emergency services, tackling organised crime in all its various guises remains our core focus and operations to disrupt criminals who attempt to profit from drug dealing will continue.

"Not only will we prosecute those found responsible to the full extent of the law, but we will also seek to maximise every opportunity to strip them of their illicit gains.

“The sad reality is that vulnerable young people are often targeted, coerced with either threats or false promises of cash and designer possessions, when in reality those criminals regard those children as nothing more than a disposable asset, to be used and abused until they have no longer have any need for them.

"The added dimension of Covid-19 just presents yet another serious health risk to those youths and those that they associate with.”