Eleven men and a woman have been jailed for a total of almost 80 years for an extensive drugs conspiracy.

Maidstone Crown Court heard they were involved in the wholesale supply of high purity cocaine, buying and selling at prices around £40,000.

Prosecutor Ian Hope said single kilos were for supply to cocaine dealers in Kent, which would be "bulked out" and sold on.

There were seven significant occasions that police observed from September last year.

Drugs would be driven from Hertfordshire to Kent. When arrests were made there were often seizures of £40,000 amounts in cash. At one point £100,000 was taken out of circulation.

The longest sentence of 10 years was imposed on Tony Kolicaj, 35, of Whitley Road, Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire.

Edward Gregory, 32, of Abinger Drive, Lordswood, Chatham, and Lee Phillips, 38, of Brunswick Street, Maidstone, both eight years; Terry Wilson, 27, of Cemetery Lane, Hadlow, seven-and-a-half years; Alan Maile, 36, of Three Elm Lane, Golden Green, Tonbridge, six-and-a-half years; Louis Claringbold, 28, of Horsford Walk, Faversham, Tobias Deoliveira, 28, of Clifford Crescent, Sittingbourne, Mark Dinnage, 35, of Boxley Road, Maidstone, Bradley Hewitt, 29, of Belmont Road, Faversham, and Scott Wray, 43, of Scragged Oak Road, Detling, Maidstone, all sentenced to six years.

"This was a complex investigation which has prevented a huge quantity of illegal drugs making its way onto the streets" - Det Con Wayne Totterdell

Koliaj’s wife Ariola, 21, was jailed for 11 months for her part in money laundering, but was due to be released having spent six months on remand.

Judge Michael Carroll said he was imposing the sentence so that she could be free to look after her newborn baby.

The judge said if Koliaj had conceived the child after she knew she was to be charged, he would have taken a different view.

A further suspect, Rikki Clements, 28, of Lady Winter Drive, Minster was previously convicted of possession with intent to supply cocaine and motoring offences. He was sentenced earlier this year to seven-and-a-half years imprisonment.

After the sentencing, Detective Constable Wayne Totterdell said: "This was a significant network of drugs dealers, intent on supplying large volumes of cocaine throughout Kent and beyond.

"The drugs ring comprised a number of separate organised crime groups who at various stages interacted with each other, with Phillips essentially acting as a broker, orchestrating and setting up meetings, exchanges and deals across mid and west Kent.

"Their crimes also included significant money laundering offences. When we searched a flat belonging to Tony and Ariola Kolicaj in Hoddeson around £280,000 in cash was seized there alone, along with a money counting machine.

"This was a complex investigation which also scrutinised mobile phone data and has prevented a huge quantity of illegal drugs making its way onto the streets.

"The Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate will continue to target those who deal in Class A drugs and take these criminals out of our communities."