Special mobile phones with military grade encryption were also used

A gang who ran a £35 million drugs ring in the Midlands have been locked up for more than 70 years.

Voja Petkovic was the ringleader of the organised crime group which peddled heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine and cannabis throughout Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.

Their two-year racket saw the drug dealers use specially adapted vehicles with secret compartments to smuggle large amounts of drugs and cash across the UK.

Special mobile phones with military grade encryption were also used to communicate with each other.

Petkovic was responsible for flooding Midlands streets with about a metric tonne of class A drugs, which had a retail value of £34.8 million.

His accomplices sold the haul on his behalf.

Now, the gang have been locked up for more than 70 years following what has been described as one of the longest running criminal trials in British history.

READ MORE: New weather maps show exact date UK to be drenched by miserable rain

Ivan Graham was one of Petkovic’s most trusted accomplices and helped move drugs through a property in Wakami Crescent, Chellaston.

The house was sub-let to Graham by Glynn Oxtoby, who was hired to rent the property in his name and pay all bills in a bid to hide who was actually using it.

Drugs arrived at the house in raw form and were supplied to other dealers for sale after being cut and repackaged.

Police searched the property in May 2018 and found an industrial scale operation of wholesale drugs supply and production.

Hundreds of thousands of pounds of cash, along with weapons including handguns and an Uzi sub machine gun, were uncovered.

Micah Prince and Calvin Morgan were two of the men who sold on the drugs, Derbyshire Constabulary said.

Both were regularly seen meeting with others involved in the ring and exchanging packages of cash and drugs.

The drugs racket was rumbled thanks to an investigation by the East Midlands Special Operations Unit.

Petkovic, Oxtoby, Morgan and Prince all denied conspiracy to supply cocaine, while Petkovic and Prince denied a further charge of money laundering.

The defendants were convicted by jurors in March following a trial at Loughborough Crown Court and were sentenced on May 16.

Morgan was also sentenced for a firearms offence committed while on bail.

• Petkovic, 40, of Whinbush Avenue, Derby, was jailed for 29 years
• Prince, 42, of Wenlock Drive, Hucknall, was jailed for 20 years
• Morgan, 32, of Strathmore Avenue, Derby, was jailed for 18 years
• Oxtoby, 38, of Victory Road, Derby, was jailed for 6 years

Detective Chief Inspector Darren Brown, from EMSOU, said: “This has been a long running and complex case into a multi-million pound drugs operation throughout Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.

“This group were responsible for supplying an enormous amount of class A drugs over the course of two years, using specially adapted technology and vehicles to help with their operation.

“I have no doubt that they would have continued this illegal trade had they not been stopped and brought to justice thanks to the efforts of a team of highly dedicated and hard-working officers at EMSOU.

“These convictions, which followed one of the longest running criminal trials in history, mean huge amounts of illegal drugs have now been taken off the streets and those responsible are behind bars for some considerable time.

“I hope this serves as a warning to anyone involved in the supply and distribution of illegal drugs that we will uncover your operations and do all we can to ensure you face justice for your crimes.”

Graham was jailed for 24 years in 2018 for his part in the operation.