FIVE people have been jailed for more than 88 years after a major drugs smuggling operation being run from a Kempsey farm was uncovered.

The men, including one man from Broughton Hackett, have been given a total of 88 years and 10 months in prison for their part in smuggling an estimated £60 million worth of drugs into the UK.

The huge operation, which was coordinated from a small office on a farm in the Kempsey area, saw drugs, including cannabis, amphetamines and MDMA smuggled into the country from the Netherlands using hauliers, which had no idea they were carrying illegal cargo.

Once in the country the drugs were taken to haulage yards in the West Mercia and Midlands area, where the parcels were separated and collected by organised crime groups from around the country.

Worcestershire villager Robert Scott, age 67, from Broughton Hackett, near Worcester, was one of the five men sentenced today (Friday, November 21) at Birmingham Crown Court.

He received 20 years in prison for conspiracy to import class A, conspiracy to import class B, conspiracy to supply MDMA, conspiracy to supply amphetamine and conspiracy to supply cannabis.

He had previously pleaded guilty on May 9 this year at Birmingham Crown Court.

Also from Worcestershire was Robert Whitehouse, age 68, from Dusthouse Lane, Finstall, Bromsgrove, who was sentenced to 22 years and six months in prison for conspiracy to import class A, conspiracy to import class B, conspiracy to supply MDMA, conspiracy to supply amphetamine and conspiracy to supply cannabis. He had also previously pleaded guilty on May 9.

The sentencing follows a major nationwide and international investigation into the importation of cannabis, amphetamines and MDMA, which is the main constituent of ecstasy, which saw arrests take place across the West Midlands region as well as in The Netherlands.

Operation Gaul, launched in July last year and led by the Serious and Organised Crime Unit of Warwickshire Police and West Mercia Police, saw a total of £13.5 million worth of drugs seized, including more than 1,000 kg of cannabis, 107 kg of MDMA and 64 kg of amphetamines.

It is one of the biggest investigations Warwickshire Police and West MerciaRobert Scott Police have ever conducted into the illegal drugs trade.

DI Carl Moore, from the Serious Organised Crime Unit, led the investigation.

He said: "Operation Goal uncovered a significant organised crime group who were responsible for importing and distributing significant amounts of controlled drugs around the UK.

"The sentences handed out today should serve as a significant deterrent to anyone involved in criminality of this kind."

Other men sentenced today included Richard Dale, age 51, from Maybrook Industrial Estate, Walsall, who was sentenced to 12 years, Peter Hillback, age 42, from Charles Close, Cheslyn Hay, Walsall, who was sentenced to 14 years and four months in prison and Jacobus Martinus Samson, age 64, from Beek Ubbergen, The Netherlands, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison.