Addison George, 43 of Woodside, Thornwood, Epping was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment after earlier being found guilty of conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
Matthew Coles, 27, of Plomer Avenue, Hoddesdon, was jailed for 8 years after earlier pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs. The smugglers were snared after being identified as being behind the importation and distribution of cocaine in a twelve month covert operation run by Herts Police's serious and organised crime unit.During the trial, Cambridge Crown Court heard how George, a pilot would fly his four-seater Piper PA-28 aeroplane from North Weald Airfield in Essex to Le Touquet in Northern France and collect a black pilot's case containing a "large quantity" of cocaine. He would then fly back to the airfield, travel to Wormley, near Hoddesdon, Herts, and exchange the case.It is believed the drugs were then dealt across Hertfordshire and the South East. The court heard how on September 6, last year Coles who, acting as a courier, collected the case containing the drugs that George had picked up in France earlier that day. He was then stopped by police in a vehicle in Ware Road in Hoddesdon with the case and arrested. The case contained eight kilos of cocaine with a street value of more than £600,000. George was arrested the next day at North Weald Airfield. Both men were then charged with conspiracy to supply class A drugs. Detective Inspector Dave Wheatley, from the serious and organised crime unit which led the operation, said: "This result represents the culmination of many months hard work, determination and patience. We have successfully succeeded in removing a large quantity of class A drugs from our streets and have disrupted a major organised crime operation. He added: "This case demonstrates that Hertfordshire is a hostile county for criminals to operate in and that we will take robust action against those people who are intent on breaking the law.
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