Gang

Six men have been jailed after smuggling more than £1 million of cocaine into the UK by coating it invisibly on broom handles.

London's Metropolitan Police say this is thought to be the first time the method has been used to import the drug into the UK.

The gang members were convicted in June, after a four and a half-month trial, of conspiracy to import cocaine, almost two years after their original arrest in October 2021 following an investigation by the Met and the National Crime Agency (NCA).

Members of an organised local crime gang, who stole diggers and trailers worth a total of more than £185,000, have been jailed.

Matthew Butler, 36, of South Street Road, in Stockbury; Nigel Black, 52, of Warden Road in Eastchurch and Ashley Austin, 24, of Essex Road in Maidstone, were all involved in the thefts from a storage compound in Bircholt Road, Maidstone, in December 2012.