A drugs baron who was trying to flee Britain was foiled in Folkestone... by an X-ray image.

Tahir Mahmood was found hiding in the cab of a lorry at the Channel Tunnel terminal in October 2015 after a manhunt was launched by the National Crime Agency.

Mahmood, 30, from Halifax in Yorkshire has now been jailed for eight years after trying to avoid arrest for his part in a drugs ring operating throughout northern England and Scotland.

But an X-ray photograph caught Mahmood out when he was spotted cowering in part of the cab of a Hungarian lorry.

He has now been jailed alongside fellow drug dealers Ajmal Aziz, 34, from Halifax and Alan Gee, 28, from Middlesbrough.

Aziz was arrested in September 2015 by armed officers from the NCA which prompted Mahmood into running.

Both men have previous convictions for supplying heroin and cocaine and were orchestrating huge quantities of the Class A substances in a wide network across the north.

Gee, who was a customer and also a convicted drug dealer, was arrested by Cleveland Police officers and specialist officers in conjunction with the NCA after he was linked to Mahmood and Aziz.

The conspiracy was uncovered last June when Mahmood and Aziz sent a courier to deliver 500g of heroin to Gee in Middlesbrough.

But the courier was arrested en route and the pair then tried recovering another six kilograms of heroin stored at the courier's house.

The haul, which was recovered by police forces from Scotland and Yorkshire, recovered a total of nine kilograms located around the UK with a likely street value of nearly £1 million.

The trio admitted to conspiracy to supply controlled drugs at Leeds Crown Court while Aziz also pleaded guilty to breaching terms of an order that banned him from hiring vehicles and using multiple mobile phones.

Aziz was jailed for 10 years and six months while Gee was sentenced to eight years in prison.

Brent Lyon, operations manager for the NCA’s Armed Operations Unit said: “All three men have previous convictions for supplying heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine and have served time in prison. This didn’t deter them from persisting in organised criminality.

“Stopping these criminals profiting from the sale of drugs and causing harm to communities is a priority for the National Crime Agency.

"We work closely with our law enforcement partners across the UK to ensure drug dealers like Mahmood, Aziz and Gee are held accountable for their actions."