Gary Malone, 44, of London Road, part of the four man gang, was sentenced to 12 years in prison. The criminals tried to smuggle 26kgs of cocaine and heroin, with a street value of £3.5m, into the country.

Graham Ellis, a 56-year-old drag racer who broke his neck and back in a 2013 crash, his son, Gareth Ellis, 36, both of, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, and Ian Hall, 35, of Wigan were also sentenced as part of the investigation.

The Met’s organised crime team launched an investigation into El-Trans, a Southend-based haulage firm run by Graham and Gareth Ellis. Malone was employed as a lorry driver at the firm.

The investigators discovered the firm was a front for importing commercial quantities of cocaine and heroin, which was passed to criminal gangs.

On July, 2, 2014 Malone travelled into the UK, through Dover, and parked in the Titan Lorry Park in Thurrock. The next morning Garteh Ellis and Hall went to the park. Later that day Hall was stopped on the M1 by police. He had nine kgs of heroin and three kgs of cocaine with him.

Later that month Malone was stopped by police at the Dartford Crossing having re-entered the country, again through Dover. Batteries that should have powered the lorry were found to contain 14kgs of high purity cocaine.

Graham and Gareth Ellis were both arrested in the early hours of July 11 at their home addresses. Police searched through an industrial unit in Rawreth and found a range of high value motor vehicles, including a racing car worth more than £87,000 and a part built racing car. The unfinished car already cost £97,000 and was designed to be the fastest in Europe.

An additional £50,000 was found in a safe under the floorboards.

Detective Constable Steve Masterson, from the Organised Crime Command unit, said: “These three individuals thought that they had found a foolproof way of smuggling millions of pounds of cocaine and heroin into the country.

“They were very wrong. These significant sentences should act as a warning to those who would seek to smuggle class A drugs into the UK. The MPS will use all its experience to pursue you and ensure you face justice.” Gareth Ellis pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import class A drugs and conspiracy to supply class A drugs. He was sentenced to nine years at Southwark Crown Court on Monday March 30.

Graham Ellis and Malone pleaded not guilty. Malone was sentenced for conspiracy to import class A drugs and conspiracy to supply class A drugs. He was sentenced at Southward Crown court on Friday March 27 after a 14 day trial.

Graham Ellis was sentenced to 20 years for conspiracy to import class A drugs, conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and possession of criminal property on the same day as Malone. A charge of possession of a disguised firearm, a stun gun disguised as an iPhone, was ordered to remain on file.

Hall, was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison at St Albans Crown Court in July 2014 after pleading guilty to possession with intent to supply class A drugs.