Five men have been jailed after smuggling cannabis and cocaine into the country and selling it in car parks in Ashford while posing as cooking oil salesmen.

The group brought the drugs – including cocaine, skunk cannabis and cannabis resin - into the country through Kent ports and would meet up with customers in the car parks.

They were caught following a surveillance operation by the National Crime Agency and Metropolitan Police’s joint Organised Crime Partnership (OCP).

Officers intercepted three vans near an industrial unit within the Willesborough Road Industrial Estate, Ashford, in November 2014.

About half a tonne of herbal cannabis and cannabis resin and 5kg of cocaine were found in the unit as well as in vans, all hidden in pallets of cooking oil.

If cut and sold on the streets, the drugs could have been worth more than £5 million.

Six men were arrested and five were sentenced at Blackfriars Crown Court, London, yesterday where Judge HO Blacksell described the conspiracy as “organised”, “sophisticated” and one which “destabilised communities”.

Freddie Koen, 49, from Rotterdam, and Danny Filius, 45, from Hoogvliet, were charged with conspiracies to supply cocaine and cannabis.

Colin Marks, 48, of Brompton Road, Manchester, Shakeel Quyam, 29, of Cark Road, Bradford, Chris Gilder, 34, of Almorah Road, Islington, and Grant Langley, 23, of Victoria Avenue, Uxbridge, were charged with conspiracy to supply cannabis.

All six men pleaded guilty to their charges but only five were sentenced.

Koen was given 17 years, Filius 14 years, Marks nine years, Gilder three years and four months and Quyam four years.

Langley will be sentenced on Friday, May 29.

Vince Philpott, from the OCP, said: "The group went as far as setting up a fake website to try to provide a cover-up for their illegal activity. They were a sophisticated group who thought they could operate above the law, but they were well and truly caught out.

“The National Crime Agency and the Metropolitan Police will continue to intercept drug shipments to keep our towns and cities safe."