A DRUGS gang boss involved in the storage of hundreds of millions of pounds of heroin and cocaine in a Colchester warehouse has been jailed for 20 years.

James Gibson was one of six jailed for their parts in a “truly colossal” conspiracy to bring class A drugs into Britain in a fleet of Dutch-registered ambulances.

The drugs would come through Harwich and be deposited at a warehouse on the Moorside Business Park in Colchester before being distributed around the country.

Several men have already been jailed for their part in bringing the £1.6billion worth of drugs over, following a National Crime Agency investigation.

The latest case, at Birmingham Crown Court, focused on the British side of the plot.

Gibson, of Cinder Lane, Ollerton, Nottinghamshire, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import and conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.

Gibson was sentenced alongside Darren Owen, 48; Richard Clarke, 36; Jonathan Floyd, 47; Raymond DeSilva, 60; and Petrit Kastrati, 42.

Owen, of Balham Close, Rushden, Northants, was jailed for 15 years.

Clarke, of Tots Gardens, Acton, Suffolk, was handed an 11-year term of imprisonment.

Floyd, of Whitethorn Avenue, Burnage, Manchester, was arrested in Suffolk last September and evidence gathered by the NCA showed he had met with Dutch ambulances to collect drugs distributed in the North West. He was jailed for 15 years.

DeSilva, of Cranbourne Road, Slough, Berkshire, received a 16-year sentence for acting as a courier.

Kastrati, of Oakwood Drive, Crystal Palace, London, was jailed for 17 years and six months.

Gibson, Owen, Floyd, DeSilva and Kastrati were all charged with conspiracy to import and supply class A drugs, while Clarke admitted conspiracy to supply.