A Maidstone man who stored millions of pounds of drugs at a house in a padlocked shipping containers has been jailed for 16-and-a-half years.

James Murphy, 38, of Church Street, Teston, along with co-defendants Dale Douglas and Akhlas Hussain, was jailed at Croydon Crown Court on Thursday after pleading guilty to possession with intent to supply Class A drugs.

It came after police seized more than 50kg of cocaine and 17kg of heroin - valued at more than £6 million on the streets.

The Metropolitan Police's Organised Crime Command spotted Murphy walking down a road in Kent on January 29, carrying a large green and white 'bag for life' which appeared to be heavy.

A short time later, he was seen coming back along the same road without the bag, before officers then observed a second man – later identified as Hussain – driving out of the same road looking agitated.

His vehicle was stopped a short time later on the M40, just north of the junction with the M25.

A search of the car found the same bag, containing 10kgs of cocaine, the street value of which was estimated as more than £1m.

Hussain was arrested and remanded into custody, before being charged with possession with intent to supply.

Detectives continued their investigation and two days later, on January 31, saw Murphy meet up with Douglas in Warren Road, Orpington.

After seeing him hand over another 'bag for life', police intervened and seized the bag from Douglas’ car, which was found to contain four packages containing 4kg of cocaine.

A search of the white van driven by Murphy to the meeting found a professionally built 'hide', which it is believed he used to conceal drugs while they were being transported.

Officers also executed a search warrant at a property used by Murphy in Orpington, where they found two shipping containers secured with padlocks.

Inside, they found over 35kg of cocaine and 17 kg of heroin, similar bags for life of the same type and a hydraulic press used to make compressed blocks of cocaine.

Douglas, 28, of Silvester Street, Liverpool, and Hussain, 30, of Kingswood Road, Birmingham, who both pleaded guilty to the same charge, were jailed for eight years and three months, and seven years respectively.

Detective Constable Christian Andrew, from the Met’s organised crime command, said: “We know that drug-dealing has a negative impact on the lives of many across London and is closely linked to the violence we see on our streets.

“These three men thought they were above the law and will now have to face the consequences of their actions.

“We hope these sentences show we are committed to pursuing those involved in this type of criminality and intent on bringing them to justice.”

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