Two drug dealers who idolised the Kray twins have been jailed following a £1.6million drugs bust on the M25 in Kent was linked to them.

The haul was one of several Robert Smith, 37, and Ismet Salih, 33, were running after authorities seized more than 220kg of cocaine all connected to their criminal network.

As part of a joint operation between the National Crime Agency (NCA) and Met Police, it was discovered the duo aspired to be like East End gangsters Ronnie and Reggie Kray.

The pair made profits of more than £1.25million in cash from selling cocaine and cannabis to areas around Essex.

Smith and Salih referred to themselves as the "Chadwell Cartel" in encrypted messages.

Smith used the handle 'demonfern' to source the cocaine from a Dubai-based seller, who went by 'blacknarco' and 'darkestnarco'.

Salih and associate Lee Twigg collected the cocaine from Smiths’s suppliers in the UK and then stored and distributed the drugs for him.

The duo exchanged more than 6,000 messages, predominantly about the sale of cocaine before they were arrested in September 2021, with investigators finding three kilos of cannabis with a wholesale value of up to £15,760 in Salih’s garden shed and evidence of a previous cannabis grow in his loft.

Smith and Salih were subsequently charged with drugs and money laundering offences, which they admitted at Basildon Crown Court, before they were jailed for 16-and-a-half years and nine years respectively at the same court today.

Investigators established a crew of men, including Jamie Sheaves, from Dartford, Andrew Fraser, Christopher Low and Adil Bakali were runners for Smith's supplier. They have all been jailed for more than a combined 39 years before today.

In October 2020, Fraser was stopped driving a van at the Dartford Crossing where two bags containing 20kg of cocaine, with a street value of £1.6 million, were found in the back, which he would have given to Salih had he not been arrested.

The following month, officers saw Twigg put a black holdall into Bakali’s car, which was later stopped by police at the M1 Northampton Services. More than 21kg of cocaine with a street value of almost £1.7 million were found in bags in the back of the car.

Twigg was arrested for this offence, and for the seizure of a further 3.5kg of cocaine which was found in his garage and an underground hide in his garden shed. A cannabis farm was also found in his loft.

The cocaine seized at Twigg’s home had been supplied by Sheaves, who also provided drugs to Salih. Sheaves was also in contact with the same person in Dubai.

Low was jailed after 40kg of cocaine with a street value of £3.2 million was found in the boot of a black Jaguar XF in Brentford, west London. He was also found to have supplied another man, Kevin Malthouse, with five kilos of cocaine.

The Organised Crime Partnership’s investigation formed part of Operation Venetic, the UK law enforcement response to the July 2020 takedown of the EncroChat encrypted communication service.

Andrew Tickner, from the Organised Crime Partnership, said: “Robert Smith and Ismet Salih were behind a criminal network which saw vast amounts of cocaine sold in Essex and beyond.

“Their dream of becoming gangsters like the Kray twins was swiftly shattered by our investigation. Instead, their reality is lengthy prison sentences.

“Using the strong partnership between the NCA and Met Police, we will continue to pursue organised criminals fuelling the class A drug trade.”