Nine men have been sentenced to more than 88 years in prison after cocaine with a street value of more than £5million was seized by police.
The gang was arrested between May and October last year after a year-long investigation and sentenced at Luton Crown Court yesterday.
The court heard 15kg of cocaine was smuggled into the UK from France and found by police hidden among cans of fruit in a lorry driven by one of the men.
Six of the men - Jonathan Mason, Robert Webb, Patrick Dyett, Gareth Harnett, Sean Martin and Andrew Dawson had all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs at an earlier hearing.
Three others - Daren Coomber, Paul Nolan and Eamon Ward had all entered not guilty pleas but were found guilty of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs after a trial in September
Mason, 45, of Ramsgate, Kent, was sentenced to 15 years and Webb, 55, of Broadstairs, Kent, was sentenced to 13 years. Both were identified as having a leading role in the operation.
Coomber, 41, of Ash, Kent, was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
Nolan, 36, of Dover, Kent, was sentenced to 11 years.
Guilty: Paul Nolan, left, was sentenced to 11 years and right, Daren Coomber, was given 14 years
Jailed: Patrick Dyett, left, was sentenced to eight years and six months and Gareth Harnett, right, was given five years and four months
Dyett, 31, of Poole, Dorset was sentenced to eight years and six months.
Harnett, 32, of Broadstairs, Kent, was sentenced to five years and four months in prison.
Ward, 28, of County Down, Ireland, was sentenced to 10 years and five months in prison.
Martin, 32, of Bedford, was sentenced to six years in prison and Dawson, 45, of Clophill, Bedfordshire, was sentenced to five years and four months in prison.
Eamon Ward, left, was sentenced to 10 years and five months and right, Sean Martin got six years
The court heard that initial arrests and searches in Bedfordshire resulted in the recovery of a large quantity of cocaine along with cutting equipment from a garage in Clophill.
A search in July in Broadstairs, Kent resulted in 7kg of cocaine being recovered as well as cutting agents and other equipment. Police had earlier seized 2kg of cocaine in Norfolk linked to the group.
Later, a further 15kg of cocaine was found hidden among cans of fruit in a lorry at an industrial estate near Dover, directly after the lorry had entered the UK from France.
A further earlier seizure of 2kg of cocaine in Norfolk was directly linked to the Bedfordshire part of the operation.
The combined value of cocaine seized during the operation amounted to an estimated wholesale price of £1million
15kg of cocaine was found hidden among cans of fruit in a lorry at an industrial estate near Dover
The drugs were seized directly after the lorry, which was driven by Ward, had entered the UK from France
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