The 16-strong criminal syndicate started importing drugs into the UK in 2020, picking up gas bottles filled with up to 16kg of coke, from Peterborough.
But they were eventually caught by French cops who smashed the gang’s secretive EncroChat messaging service used by organised criminals
It revealed messages from gang leader Kevin Taylor, 43, from Newcastle.
Under the EncroChat handle ‘loyalmover’ Taylor was responsible for collecting and moving drugs and cash.
Other messages showed Taylor was communicating with a criminal in Spain and with someone using the handle "Mr Soprano" - after the hit TV series.
They discussed Covid hampering their drug smuggling ring and Taylor said he was trying to register his drivers as NHS volunteers.
Another member of the gang, David Jeavons, 60, used the handle ‘slickpearl’ whose job was to arrange the importation of drugs.
When he was arrested, police discovered £24,000 in cash hidden inside the roof of his caravan.
There were other messages about "working from the flat" which was code for importing cocaine from Holland.
Other messages from the contact in Spain referred to "40 a week", a reference to 40kg of cocaine being imported a week.
Middle-man David Bowen, 53, who used the handle “discocockney” said he was looking to transport 70 to 100kg from Holland "on behalf of a Geordie" - meaning Taylor.
Details about the gang’s drug plot have emerged following their sentencing at Newcastle Crown Court.
The court heard the gas containers they used had been welded shut before the drugs were placed inside and then re-painted.
Between October 2019 and April 2020, 12 gas bottles were collected from Chatham, Kent, Corby and Northampton, and Peterborough.
Each bottle contained between 12kg and 16kg of cocaine, which totalled 172kg of drugs.
The court heard the gang also used secret compartments in vans to hide money and drugs they were ferrying around to dealers and users.
Colin Somerville, 46, of Newcastle, was Taylor’s second in command and opened the bottles when they arrived in the North East.
Michael Watson, 46, and Craig Martin, 47, also both from Newcastle, collected the bottles and delivered the drugs once they had been opened.
They also moved £8.2 million in cash to pay for further supplies of drugs.
At one point the wider gang discussed how 10kg of cocaine had gone missing and they believed a man in the Fenham area of Newcastle had stolen it.
In July 2020, Jeavons and two other gang members met at the M62 Ferrybridge Services where they argued about what to do about the suspected thief.
Police intercepted messages about "grabbing him" and an Osman warning - where police tell someone their life is in danger - was issued to the man.
Taylor was convicted of two counts of conspiracy to supply cocaine and jailed for 27 years.
Jeavons, of Felton, Northumberland, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to supply cocaine and was jailed for 10 years and eight months.
Bowen, of Mitcham, London, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to supply cocaine and jailed for four years.
He is currently serving a 10 years and eight months prison sentence for previous drug dealing.
In total the gang received jail terms totalling 141 years.
CA branch commander Martin Clarke, of the North East Regional Organised Crime Unit (NEROCU), said: “These individuals were responsible for flooding the North East with vast amounts of cocaine, some of which was transported in fairly sophisticated ways such as in gas cannisters.
“Their sole objective was making a quick profit when the UK was at the height of the Covid 19 lockdown.”
1. Drugs gang jailed
The gang have been jailed for a combined total of more than 140 years Photo: NCA/SWNS
