TO THE residents of a quiet cul-de-sac in East London, the people at No 6 were the perfect neighbours. The garden of the terraced home was kept immaculate and the view between the net curtains showed a well-kept home.

Some may have noticed that the owners turned up only every couple of weeks and stayed for no more than a day or two, but that was hardly cause for concern.

Behind the neat suburban frontage, however, the property was the headquarters of an international drug cartel that for two years made up to £3 million a week by importing cocaine, turning it into crack and selling it from the house.

Today the gang members were sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court to jail terms ranging from five to 27 years for their part in what Tarique Ghaffur, Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, called "one of the most significant organised criminal drug and money-laundering networks this country has ever seen".

They had so much cash that they named themselves the "Bling Bling Gang" because of the opulent lifestyle they were able to lead. Only two members of the gang had proper jobs. On one particular day £70,000 was spent on jewellery. When police raided the gang’s various premises they found designer jewellery, including Rolex and Cartier watches, and designer clothes and shoes, many of which were still in their bags, as well as clothing receipts for £50,000.

The officiers also uncovered more than £1 million worth of crack cocaine in pizza style pans in the "kitchen", cut and ready for distribution to their customer network. Bags of cash were found. One of the gang was caught by police as he tried to bury £64,000 in his neighbour’s back garden, dressed in his vest and boxer shorts.

The house was the focal point for the worldwide £300 million drug operation.

The gang had devised a complex international route by which cocaine paste and liquid would reach Britain. Three couriers were sent to the Caribbean every week to collect the cocaine paste, which originated in Colombia. From there they would travel to New York and Britain via Amsterdam and Paris, with the drugs hidden in specially adapted suitcases, sealed rum bottles and even toothpaste tubes.

The couriers, mostly single mothers recruited in America and addicted to cocaine, would each be paid £10,000 to fly to the Caribbean and bring back the drug, which was 70 to 90 per cent pure.

The gang even factored into their profit-and-loss estimates the likelihood of one of their mules being stopped by authorities on each journey. If the couriers refused to make the drug run, they were told that their families would be hurt. Once the couriers had arrived in France they would be guarded overnight before being sent across the Channel to London by coach, Eurostar or ferry.The court was told that the courier company DHL unwittingly imported the cocaine. One of the gang, who worked for the company, would deliver packages that had been marked for non-existent addresses. He would extract the cocaine and return the packages to the depot as undelivered. Dealers from around the country would then be told to meet near the crack house so that they could buy the drug.

The gang members entered Britain on a temporary basis and overstayed the terms of their visas, or else used fake passports to fool Customs officers.

Their problems began in April 2004 when a group of couriers in France was arrested and police in several countries began working together on Operation Bella Vista. At least 56 members of the gang have now been jailed in the Caribbean, France, the United States and Britain. The leaders, Ian Dundas-Jones, 35, Bernard Clarke, 31, and his partner, Lisa Bennett, 39, were sentenced today along with other members of the gang.

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