The last member of an organised drugs ring which supplied cocaine across Canterbury and the south coast area has been jailed.

Aaron Blake, 31, of Tenterden Drive, Canterbury, had previously admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine and was sentenced to six years in prison at Canterbury Crown Court on Friday.

Blake was part of a gang of nine, who all live in Kent, who were arrested following an operation by officers from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate.

During the course of the investigation, drugs with a potential street value of £6m were taken off the streets.

When tested some of the cocaine was found to be 94% pure. Officers also found a large quantity of Benzocaine, a common missing agent and the class C drug TFMPP.

Angela McColl, 52, of Prospect Road, Broadstairs, and Rachel Deal, 30, from Leighville Drive, Herne Bay, were given two-year sentences suspended for two years, Lee Phillips, 30, of Priorless Road, Canterbury, Justin McColl, 31, of Camden Road, Broadstairs, and Robert Curtis, 41, of Leighville Drive, Herne Bay, were each jailed for four years.

Daniel Bridge, 27, of Carlton Avenue, Broadstairs, was sent to prison for three years, Daniel D’Age, 28, of St George's Terrace, Herne Bay, was given an eight-year jail term, and Kieren Mitchell, 30, of Roosevelt Avenue, Chatham was jailed for five years.

On Thursday, September 15 2011 Phillips was stopped in his blue van by a patrol in the Canterbury area. A bag of cocaine was seized from the glove box and £1,220 in cash was also found in the van.

Officers searched his home where swabbing equipment detected traces of cocaine and electronic weighing scales were found.

On the same evening Bridge and Justin McColl were stopped in a Volkeswagen Golf near McColl’s home. A bag of cocaine was found. A search of McColl’s home followed and drugs paraphernalia were seized.

Bridge was also arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply class A drugs. A search of his home uncovered £5,000 in cash.

Curtis was arrested after his Ford Mondeo was stopped by a patrol on the Thanet way on Thursday, October 27 2011. A search of his car revealed a quantity of drugs in a plastic carrier bag which had been hidden under the drivers seat.

A subsequent search of Curtis’s caravan in Sutton Vale, Deal and a farm in Dargate uncovered more drugs.

At Lamberhurst farm in Dargate officers seized scales, a red metal press and a number of barrels and powder samples. An empty beer bottle with a Curtis’s fingerprints on it was also discovered.

Police also seized £16, 500 in cash from his caravan and cocaine with an estimated street value of £54, 000.

On Wednesday December 7 2011, officers from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate executed nine search warrants at various properties in Herne Bay, Ashford, Chartham, Sturry and Broadstairs. Drugs, mobile phones, counterfeit cash and weapons, including a crossbow, were seized by police.

Detective Constable Martin Lacey of The Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate said:

“This was a highly organised criminal network and the people within the network were pocketing thousands by selling to high end dealers across the east of the county.

“To connect the nine to the drug supply ring took many hours of investigative work in which officers trawled through a huge amount of mobile phone data and other intelligence which had been painstakingly gathered.

“We have been successful in taking millions of pounds worth of drugs off the streets and will continue to relentlessly pursue those intent in profiting from the death and misery caused by illegal drugs.’

Judge Van Der Bilj described the offence as a sophisticated class A drugs operation which was a business-like crime run in open daylight.