Six men have been jailed after a "truly colossal" plot to sneak heroin and cocaine into Britain in a fleet of Dutch-registered ambulances.

The ring leader

Drugs gang boss James Gibson, was jailed for 20 years, after a court heard he was "towards the top of the tree" on the British side of the plot.

Gibson, from Ollerton, Nottinghamshire, pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to conspiracy to import and conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.

According to the National Crime Agency (NCA), the 56-year-old had a leading role in distributing substantial amounts of class A drugs to organised crime groups across the UK.

Gibson is also said to have had direct links with a Dutch organised crime group who used a fleet of fake ambulances to bring up to £1.6bn worth of drugs including high-purity cocaine and heroin to the UK.

The plot

The National Crime Agency (NCA) uncovered the conspiracy - which even involved fake patients and paramedics - after seizing an ambulance in Smethwick, near Birmingham.

The vehicle,which was one of four ambulances fitted with specialist "hides" by the Dutch gang, was found to contain cocaine with a street value of more than £30 million, and 74kg of heroin worth £8 million in individual deals.

The other five men involved

Judge: This was a 'well-executed' conspiracy

As he delivered his sentence at Birmingham Crown Court, Judge Francis Laird QC said he was confident that drugs with a wholesale value of £300 million had been smuggled into the UK in ambulances between October 2014 and June last year.

Brent Lyon, Operations Manager at the NCA, said: "This was an audacious plot by organised criminals who were driven by profit and who went to extreme lengths to avoid law enforcement attention.

"The six men sentenced today knew they were engaged in serious and organised crime yet continued their drug trafficking activities regardless," he added.