TWO men from south Cumbria have been jailed for their roles in an organised crime gang which supplied drugs to users across the north west of England.

Twenty-two men, from the top of the chain down to the couriers on the ground, have been sentenced to more than 220 years after being convicted of conspiracy to supply heroin, cocaine and cannabis at Liverpool Crown Court.

They include dealer Stephen Bell, 27, of Mikasa Street, Walney.

He was sentenced to six years eight months.

And Robert Parker, 30, of Woodland Road, Ulverston, was a courier who travelled to Liverpool to meet with suppliers.

He was sentenced to five years.

On eight separate occasions detectives from Merseyside Police seized 1.5 kilos of heroin, 2.5kg of cocaine and 53 kilos of cannabis with an estimated total street value of £453,000.

Detective Chief Inspector Steve Reardon, said: “Organised crime groups like this, who deal in the wholesale supply and distribution of controlled drugs, don’t care about the impact that supply of drugs has in our communities and the associated misery and acquisitive crime that it brings to our streets.

“But I would like to reassure the decent members of our communities that Merseyside Police is committed to tackling the supply of drugs and we will continue to proactively tackle criminal gangs who think nothing of flooding the streets with dangerous drugs in order to profit from other people’s misery.

DCI Reardon, added: “We will be looking to seize assets through the Proceeds of Crime Act and will be looking at the different properties owned by the individuals involved in this group.

“It is safe to say that when they come out of prison the trappings they had become used to will no longer be there.

“We will also be looking to take out Serious Organised Crime Prevention Orders (SOCPOs), which will be put in place on the release of any of those individuals convicted as part of this conspiracy.

“This will stop them from travelling out of the country for five years and will contain other restrictions on their associations with certain individuals and the use of mobile devices.

“The message is clear - we are relentless in our pursuit of those involved in serious organised crime and will continue to do all we can to put our communities first and remove the threat, risk and harm these individuals bring to our streets.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the detectives involved in investigating this complex and far reaching drugs conspiracy, their tenacity has led to the justice that has been served. I would also like to thank the prosecuting barrister Steve McNally and the Crown Prosecution Service for all their hard work.”