A man from Moira has been jailed for seven years for being part of a gang which supplied £145,000 worth of cocaine in a crime spree described by a Judge as a 'substantial operation and conspiracy.'

Clive Andrews, of Cherry Tree Court, Moira, was one of six members of the drugs gang, who have been jailed for a total of more than 50 years.

Andrews and four other defendants had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.

The sixth member of the group, Raymond Gray, denied the allegations but was convicted of the charge following a trial at Northampton Crown Court in June.

Clive Andrews has been jailed for seven years

The court heard that during the search of Andrews' address, police discovered a large amount of cash, more than 1.5kg of cocaine, cutting agents and other articles for use in processing and distributing drugs. These including mixing equipment and a hydraulic press.

Police believe that Andrews' house was used to adulterate and repackage the gang's drugs for onwards sale.

Judge Michael Fowler described the gang as running a substantial operation and conspiracy, which profited from those addicted to drugs.

He said: "It was profit made from the addictions others suffer and it creates more addiction."

Also sentenced were Asa Beasley, 36, Andrew Morales, 36, and Barry Moylan, 46, all from Northampton. Richard Gray, 49, from Wigan, was also jailed as was Raymond Gray, 45, from Warrington.

The investigation into the wholesale supply of class A controlled drugs in Northamptonshire was launched when Beasley was arrested in August 2016. He was found in possession of one kilogramme of high purity cocaine that had been clocked, stamped and imported from outside of the UK.

The drugs seized by officers had a street value of more than £145,000

At the time, he was en-route to meet Andrews after meeting Richard Gray earlier in the day.

In December 2016, officers carried out warrants on five of the defendants' addresses.

Detectives found Moylan had made numerous bank transfers to Richard and Raymond Gray as payments from Morales.

Moylan received £82,282 in cash credits over 22 months. £55,000 was transferred to Richard Gray and £11,150 to Raymond Gray.

Emily Sharpe, an investigator with East Midlands Special Operations Unit, said after the sentencing: "We're very pleased indeed with the sentences handed down by the judge.

"These men were part of a serious and organised crime group who were in action for a lengthy period of time.

"Their organisation was well planned and professional and we are pleased that such a thorough investigation has put an end to their long term criminal activity and disrupted a drugs supply chain that, ultimately, causes so much misery to so many people."

Looking for a job? There are thousands available at www.Fish4.co.uk