A man from South Ockendon has been jailed for his role as a 'courier' for an international drug smuggling ring that brought in millions of pounds worth of heroin and cocaine to the UK.

'Operation Debellatio' saw Met detectives seize millions of pounds worth of drugs and hundreds of thousands of pounds of cash.

Lewis Taylor, 26, of Perry Way, Aveley, South Ockendon, Essex worked as a courier in a gang that smuggled drugs into the country by concealing them in tyres underneath transport lorries. The gang then used Polish drivers to take the illicit cargo.

He was sentenced to eight years after being found guilty of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.

His gang of seven was also sentenced to a total of 81 years in jail last week at Southwark Crown Court. Two further men were found not guilty. 

Detective Inspector Jerry Troon, of the Met's Central Task Force, said: "I want this case to send a strong message out to anyone considering attempting to import drugs into the UK. That message is that no matter how ingenious you believe you are being, law enforcement agencies will be one step ahead of you, and when convicted you will face lengthy prison sentences."

The Metropolitan Police operation started in May 2014 and led to detectives from the Service's Central Task Force arresting the gang months later.

The gang recruited Polish lorry drivers to collect the drugs just before boarding a ferry. The drivers then returned to Europe with the cash hidden in the same way.

Heroin and cocaine was packed into blocks and hidden in the tyres, with cannabis shipments being hidden amongst lorries' genuine freight.

The gang used a special van to remove and replace HGV tyres, with a large wheel balancing machine and petrol driven air compressor in the back of it. The machine removed the tyres from the wheel rims before the drugs were packed into them.

On arrival in the UK, the drivers would drop the drugs off before delivering their genuine freight.

Filbrandt, head of the gang, ran the operation from a rented farm in Maidstone, with Fijalkowski acting as his right-hand man.

Lorry drivers Kmiec, Krawczyk and Koc were used to transport the drugs into the UK, and Kaja and Lewis used as couriers within the UK.

Robert Filbrandt, 31, a Polish national of Mckenzie Court, Maidstone, Kent was sentenced to 20 years having been found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to evade prohibition on the importation of drugs and two counts of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.

He admitted a charge of controlling criminal property at the start of his trial.

Radoslaw Fijalkowski, 31, a Polish national of Lowther Road, Dover was sentenced to 16 years after being found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to evade the prohibition on the importation of drugs and one charge of controlling criminal property.

Piotr Kmiec, 35, a lorry driver from Poland was sentenced to 11 years after being found guilty of conspiracy to evade the prohibition on the importation of drugs.

Arkadiusz Krawczyk, 33, a lorry driver from Poland was sentenced to 11 years after being found guilty of conspiracy to evade the prohibition on the importation of drugs.

Rafael Koc, 39, from Poland was sentenced to nine years after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to import Class A drugs and one count of conspiracy to import Class B drugs.

Besmir Kaja, 30, an Albanian national of Wharton Road, Bromley was sentenced to six years after pleading guilty to one count of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs and one count of possession with intent to supply Class B drugs.

Two men were found not guilty; Eshwar Harkashin, 55, of Cubitt Square, Southall, Middlesex was acquitted of conspiracy to supply drugs.

Robert Guzowski, 45, from Poland was found not guilty of two counts of conspiracy to evade the prohibition on the importation of drugs.