Drugs gang who smuggled £1.7million of cocaine into Britain hidden in the wings of a plane are jailed for 38 years

The six men trafficked the class-A drugs from the Netherlands and France Spent six months learning to fly a 31,000 light aircraft

By Jill Reilly

PUBLISHED: 13:26 EST, 2 November 2012 | UPDATED: 13:30 EST, 2 November 2012

An international drugs gang who smuggled 1.7 million of cocaine into the UK by hiding it in the wings of a plane were jailed today for a total of 38 years.

The six men, including an Iraq war veteran and an ex-paratrooper, trafficked the class-A drugs from the Netherlands and France using a 31,000 light aircraft.

A court heard the gang spent six months learning to fly the plane before loading it with 1.7 million worth of drugs.

Plan: The gang spent six months learning to fly the plane before loading it with 1.7 million worth of drugs. But they were caught when they touched down at an airstrip in Corby

But the gang were caught when they touched down at an airstrip in Corby, Northamptonshire, on June 26 last year and customs officers found 5kg of cocaine stashed in one of the wing panels.

Adel Chouhaib, 33, Abdelilah Hilali, 34, former soldier Christopher McGlone, 27, and his brother James McGlone, 30, Wayne Burgess, 36, and ex-paratrooper Richard Murray, 48, all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import Class A drugs and conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.

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Drugs gang who smuggled £1.7million of cocaine into Britain hidden in the wings of a plane are jailed for 38 years