A SENIOR detective has spoken about members of an evil drugs gang who have been jailed for bringing misery to the streets of the Medway Towns by selling crack cocaine. The leader of the gang, 22-year-old Rohan Dixon, was sentenced to seven years by a judge at Maidstone Crown Court.

Dixon, of Hilary Gardens, Borstal, near Rochester, was convicted of conspiracy to supply. He now faces deportation to his native Jamaica. His 16-year-old brother-in-law Yusaf Gordan, also of Hilary Gardens, Borstal, was sentenced to a two-year detention and supervision order.

John Surman, 22, of no fixed address, was jailed for four years for his part in the conspiracy. Michael Severn, 36, of Ealing Close, Chatham, was jailed for two years and Shamise Hooper, 20, of Canterbury Street, Gillingham, was sentenced to a total of four years and three months in a young offender institution. At an earlier hearing a fifth man, Ian Dixon, 24 - Rohan Dixon's brother - had been sentenced to three years in jail for supplying the drug.

Det Insp Robin Plummer said: "Medway police put in a substantial operation to catch these people and we hope the sentences act as a deterrent. Crack cocaine is a relatively new drug but I would put it on a par with heroin. It is a highly addictive drug and can be taken in ever increasing amounts.

"During the course of this investigation we found a dramatic increase in volume crime associated with this drug network as well as acts of extreme violence. We found one addict had committed 40 burglaries in two or three months to pay for his habit."

The gang were caught in Operation Magician, involving 12 officers from June to November. The operation included an undercover policewomen secretly armed with video and audio equipment meeting dealers on the street or at addresses in Chatham and Rochester.

Det Insp Plummer said: "We believe the sentencing gives a clear message that drug dealers will continue to be targeted by us."