A SPA man was jailed for five-and-a-half years for his part in a £10m drugs racket.

John Davies was one of thirteen gang members who swamped Worcestershire with cocaine, heroin, cannabis and ec-stasy. Together, the gang was sent down for a total of 90 years.

Davies, 43 from De Wyche Road, Droitwich was convicted of conspiracy to supply class A drugs and sentenced at Stafford Crown Court last Tuesday (July 8) after a two-month trial.

Others locked up were Naheed Baig, Raymond Groves, Majid Jehangir, Jonathan Loxley, Mohammed Nasar, Paul Norris, Dil Pazir, Thomas Timms and James Topping - all from Worcester. Alan Panter, Alan Gibney from Coventry and Lee Johnson from Chelmsley Wood were also jailed.

Operation Yeoman, one of the largest ever of its kind by West Mercia Police, began after eight addicts died in the first four months of 2001. Over two years, it brought down the gang's £10 million empire built ferrying £250,000 of drugs from Birmingham to Worcester a week.

Some 330 officers were trained on couriers and masterminds with some sent undercover to infiltrate the ring. Police working on it arrested a total of 73 people, also seizing stolen cars, electri-cal goods, ammunition and a stun gun.

Det Insp Chris Scott of West Mercia's Force crime unit led the investigation. He said: "Operation Yeoman demonstrates the constabulary's commitment to tracking down those involved in the unlawful supply of drugs and our de-termination to sustain the pressure on drugs traffickers across the force.

"These convictions are of those who played a key role in the network, responsible for high levels of crime both directly and indirectly.

The police chief praised officers on the case especially those who went under cover: "These officers put themselves at risk in what was undoubtedly a dangerous role. Their evidence formed the backbone of the case and their dedication has been instrumental in bringing the people involved in their network to justice."

West Mercia's investigation won the force a Home Office Award.