Five people have appeared in court in the aftermath of a major drugs and money laundering operation which saw £300,000 cash and cocaine worth around £2 million seized.

All five suspects, four men and one woman, have all appeared in court over their roles in the illegal enterprise in Gravesend.

Officers from the Met Police and National Crime Agency executed the drugs bust late on Tuesday, April 14, storming an address on Gatwick Road, Gravesend.

Police seized 20 kilos of cocaine from a van at the scene, plus a further four kilos at another address, estimated to be worth around £2 million.

Four people were arrested during the operation in Gravesend, and have all now been charged.

Philip Spence, 50, of Rochester Road, Gravesend, is charged with possessing criminal property, whilst Nicola Stevens, also 50 and living on the same road, is charged with conspiring to launder the proceeds of crime.

David Adeniji, 29, of Bromhall Road in Dagenham, is charged with conspiring to supply class A drugs and conspiring to launder the proceeds of crime.

Kyle Hills, 31, of St Albans Close in Gillingham is charged with conspiring to supply class drugs.

All four appeared before the Barkingside Magistrates Court on Thursday, April 16 with Stevens, Adeniji and Hills remanded in custody to appear at Woolwich Crown Court on May 14. Spence was bailed, but will appear in court on the same day.

The fifth individual, Luke Coribel, 30, of Gatwick Road, Gravesend, handed himself into police on Thursday following appeals for him to come forward.

Coribel has been charged with possessing class A drugs with intent to supply and conspiring to supply class A drugs, and was also remanded in custody until his next court hearing at Woolwich Crown Court on May 14.

NCA head of specialist operations John Coles said: “Taking this amount of class A drugs off the streets is a significant result for the OCP as we know cocaine fuels gang violence and exploitation.

“Seizing drugs and cash has a major impact on the wider organised crime groups that are involved in drug distribution, and prevents them from investing profits in further offending."

The proactive police operation saw officers move in and arrest two men, Hills and Adeniji, in Gatwich Road where they also seized the van.

A third man, thought to be Coribel, was seen fleeing the location and is now wanted in connection with the investigation.

Officers then executed a search warrant at an address in Gatwick Road, where further cocaine was found and one arrest was made.

Searches of a second property on Rochester Road saw £300,000 in cash recovered and two 50-year-olds arrested, Spence and Stevens.