Building site labourer jailed for importing 800 kilos of cocaine

• Watch Robert Murphy's report

A building site labourer who supplied the West Country with hundreds of kilos of cocaine has been jailed for 24 years.

Helios Nanaj, 37, from London, was convicted of conspiring to supply controlled Class A drugs and conspiring to import cocaine following a trial at Gloucester Crown Court last week.

The court heard he was caught after he was linked by his coded Encrochat phone with other members of the gang, who were based in Gloucester.

He took photos of cash and drugs on his phone - which he believed was undecipherable by law agencies.

But the National Crime Agency managed to get into the system in 2020, revealing images and messages.

Nanaj claimed to be a labourer on a building site, but the court heard he was the ringleader of a gang which imported 784 kilos of cocaine to the UK.

He was caught after dealers in the Barton Street area of Gloucester were caught in 2020.

Nanaj took photos of himself wearing expensive clothes and watches. He also gave one of his encrypted phones the same nickname as his son.

The jury also heard that he was unable to move the large amounts of money he was earning from his drug distribution, so had to stash £1.6 million in his family flat during lockdown.

Judge Rupert Lowe told him: "Your role in this conspiracy was as the chief organising mind.

"Your hesitant and incoherent arguments that you were looking after these phones (for other people) were ludicrous and transparent lies which were exposed before the jury.

Detective Inspector Matt Phillips, from Gloucestershire Police's Serious and Organised Crime Unit, said this was the force's biggest prosecution - both for the amount of drugs seized and for the length of the offender's sentence.

He said: "This is an excellent result which shows that nothing will stop us from tackling the issue of drugs that can blight our communities.

“The determination and commitment shown by the Serious and Organised Crime Unit throughout the investigation demonstrates that we will work tirelessly to bring organised crime groups to justice.

"Whether you are at the bottom or top of the drug supply chain, Gloucestershire is a place where you are not welcome and anyone who attempts to supply drugs in the county can expect to face the full force of the law."