Eight jailed for £100m drugs find

Keith Jeremy was said to be the ringleader

Eight men have been jailed in connection with the seizure of cocaine with a street value of up to £100m.

The men, from the West Midlands, Wales, Notts and Liverpool, admitted to various offences last month.

Keith Jeremy, 42, of Sutton Coldfield, who police said was the ringleader, was given a total of 18 years in prison.

Police said the charges had followed the seizure of 150kg of "phenomenally pure" cocaine at three locations in the West Midlands on 23 February.

A total of 95kg of cocaine was found on the Pagnell Industrial Estate in Turner Street, Dudley, 5kg was hidden in a car in Harborne, Birmingham, and 50kg inside a van which had been stopped on the M5 near Halesowen.

More than 160kg of cannabis - worth about £500,000 - was also found at the industrial unit along with 14,000 counterfeit £1 coins.

Criminal property

The drugs were believed to have been smuggled into Britain from Holland.

Judge Robert Griffith-Jones said cocaine had "corrosive effects".

He said: "A high proportion of the people who come before the court for burglary and robbery are addicted to cocaine.

"The courts will take very seriously any matters of dealing with cocaine."

Sentencing Jeremy, of Whitehouse Common Road, for conspiracy to supply cocaine, amphetamines and cannabis, Judge Griffith-Jones said he had "orchestrated the conspiracy".

I am extremely pleased with the result of the court - it reflects the serious nature of the criminals involved Det Ch Insp Mark Griffiths West Midlands Police

Martin Askew, 38, of no fixed address, was described as a man with "international connections". He was sentenced to 15 years in jail for conspiracy to supply cocaine.

Dean Letts, 39, from Greenvale Avenue, Sheldon, Birmingham, and Lee Welsh, 30, of Habberley Road, Rowley Regis, West Midlands, were both each sentenced to 13 and a half years for conspiracy to supply cocaine.

Gavin Griffiths, 28, also of Habberley Road, Rowley Regis, West Midlands, was given 12 and a half years for conspiracy to supply cocaine.

John Pollard, 34, of The Glebe, Cossall, Nottinghamshire, was sentenced to five years for the supply of controlled drugs. The court heard that he would travel to the West Midlands and pick up drugs to take into the East Midlands.

The drugs were discovered across the West Midlands

Gary Hyland, 34, of Oakhill Road, Liverpool, was given a four and a half year sentence for conspiracy to supply amphetamines and cannabis.

David Loone, 34, of Shirley, Solihull, was sentenced to two years for entering into an agreement concerning criminal property.

A ninth man, Robert Marchant, 62, of Hendre Farm Drive, Newport, in south Wales, was spared jail because of ill health.

He was given a nine-month suspended sentence for entering into an agreement concerning criminal property. He was also given a six-month supervision period.

Outside court, Det Ch Insp Mark Griffiths said: "I am extremely pleased with the result of the court - it reflects the serious nature of the criminals involved.

"As a force, we are committed to reducing harm in our community."

He added officers were working to seize the men's assets.