A MAN has walked free from court after he was convicted for involvement in the drugs trade.

Caylan Park admitted to supplying drugs between Eastbourne and London as part of the "Malik" county drug line.

It comes after police seized drug-line phones, £1,410 of crack cocaine and heroin, £330 in cash and a large knife after raiding an address in Brent, London, in October last year.

The 22-year-old man was subsequently arrested and pleaded guilty to supplying of Class A drugs in Eastbourne as part of a county lines operation.

Park, of Wharton Close, Brent, appeared at Lewes Crown Court where he was sentenced to two years in prison, which was suspended for 18-months.

Detective Constable David Brown said: "Class A supply has a large negative impact on local people and local services.

“This investigation demonstrated that we will work effectively with our partners in the Metropolitan Police to target and disrupt those responsible for county lines drug dealing."

Officers from both Sussex Police and the Metropolitan Police worked collaboratively in the arrest.

County Lines is a term used by police to refer to drug networks, both gangs and organised crime groups, from large urban areas such as London, who use children, young people and vulnerable adults to carry out illegal activity on their behalf.

According to police, the organised crime groups tend to use a local property, generally belonging to a vulnerable person, sometimes a drug user, as a base for their activities.

This is known as cuckooing and will often happen by force or coercion.

Sussex Police said officers continue to see children being exploited by criminal gangs to supply drugs in the county.

“Children have travelled from London to Sussex to deal drugs on behalf of county line gangs, as well as Sussex children being exploited and targeted by London gangs to deal drugs locally,” a police spokesman said.

“Our priority is to identify those children at risk of criminal exploitation and once identified work with partner agencies to put the appropriate safeguarding measures in place.

“Although there are currently some 30 deal lines in operation in Sussex at any one time, often overlapping with other force areas, that figure fluctuates on a regular basis.”

A deal line is the dedicated mobile phone line to take orders from drug users.