Moment county lines drug dealer flees chainsaw-wielding police smashing down his front door - only to be grabbed by machine gun-toting officers out the back

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 08:23 EDT, 25 September 2026 | Updated: 08:28 EDT, 25 September 2026 As armed police carved up the entrance to a house in Basildon with a chainsaw, county lines drug dealer Tyler Flynn must have been feeling pleased with himself as he ran out the back door.But the 20-year-old would have been decidedly less happy a few moments later after being tackled to the floor by a police officer who accosted him with a cheery: 'Hello mate!'Sensational footage released by Essex Police showed Flynn bolting out of the rear of the home on June 30, unaware a drone was tracking his every move from above.Wrenching the gate open, the chain-wearing drug dealer was literally collared by the officers waiting on the other side.'Hello mate!' one of the officers bellowed as he burst in, dragging Flynn to the ground by his shirt, as his colleague trained a rifle on the captive crook.Asked if he had anything on him that could hurt the police, Flynn replied: 'There's a flick knife in my pocket.' The moment 20-year-old Tyler Flynn was collared by armed police as he tried to flee out the back of a house in Basildon Police had carved in the front door of the house with a chainsaw as part of a county lines-smashing operation Flynn (circled) fled out the back door, unaware the officers were waiting for him on the other side of the gate'Leave it alone then,' the officer quipped.Conducting a search, officers found £1,400 in cash and dozens of wraps of Class A drugs in his manbag thought to be intended for onward supply. Inside the property, police also found the flick knife, a machete, a baseball bat and a mobile phone used to co-ordinate the drug line.Flynn, of Hereford Walk in Basildon, had been identified by detectives as a key figure in a county lines gang supplying heroin and cocaine in the area.The drug dealer admitted possession of cocaine and heroin with intent to supply and possessing criminal property.Appearing at Basildon Crown Court last week, he was given a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, with unpaid work and rehabilitation requirements attached as conditions.Flynn's lawyer told the court that he was forced to deal drugs through a job on a traveller site that he had been introduced to by an ex-girlfriend.The Basildon Echo reported that he felt 'intimidated' and had been 'pressured' into carrying out deliveries.Judge John Bristow warned him that he faced prison if he breached the conditions of his suspended sentence. Flynn was tackled to the ground and searched, admitting to officers he had a flick knife Police also found £1,400 in cash and dozens of drug wraps in his manbagThe pre-planned raid was conducted as part of Essex Police's drug ring-smashing Operation Raptor.Detective Sergeant Jon Kemp, of the Operation Raptor squad, said the arrest showed drug gangs 'cannot operate in our communities with impunity'.County lines gangs are a scourge on Britain's streets, with children being enticed from a young age into working for the gangs with promises of gifts in exchange.Schools are introducing classes to educate children on how to spot a county lines gang in order to avoid being drawn into a world of cruel exploitation.Gangsters are increasingly using social media platforms such as TikTok and Snapchat to recruit children into moving drugs.The Home Office estimates that 15,500 children were at risk of, or involved in, criminal exploitation as of March 2025. Some 2,217 drug lines across England were smashed in the year to March 2026.