Simon Garbutt, of Newark, was jailed for more than six years for his role in the drug trafficking operation.

A Newark man was among ten drug dealers sentenced to more than 94 years in jail for trafficking Class A drugs with a street value of up to £1.4m from Sheffield into Nottinghamshire.

Simon Garbutt, 61, of Great North Road, who arrived in the UK from Greece in July 2016, was jailed for six years and eight months for his role in the operation.

He helped stash the drugs and also had a storage unit full of cutting agent.

Heading up the Sutton-in-Ashfield-based organised crime group (OCG) were brothers Mark and Paul Day. Pulling the strings on the other side was Liban Abdullah. Despite the fact he was already in prison, he was key in orchestrating the drug runs from Sheffield.

As part of their operation, couriers would use taxis to get between meet-ups and stashed their drugs along rural nature trails.

The court was told on June 20, 2016, 29-year-old Abdullah made arrangements for 51-year-old Paul Day to meet Sheffield courier Waqas Bashir in South Normanton. The exchange took place in a McDonalds carpark, where Day handed over payment for 2kg of heroin and cutting agent.

Observing nearby was Josiah Wiggan, boss of the Sheffield arm of the operation outside of prison. The 30-year-old was joined by fellow organiser and driver Christopher Williams. Giving orders over the phone was Mark Day.

A chase ensued as police moved in and car footage caught Paul Day throwing his recently-bought product out of the window as he raced through country roads.

You can watch this shocking footage in the link below.

His brother, Mark, joined in the pursuit, pulling up next to his brother for him to throw a package between vehicles.

Witnesses saw Mark circle back to collect other packages that his brother had dumped along the way. Paul Day was arrested after giving up the chase shortly after.

The groups continued the operation and over the next two months two more exchanges took place in Nottinghamshire.

Now on bail, Paul Day instructed his courier, Matthew Bentley, to make the exchanges. After a short meet with Sheffield-based taxi driver Mohammed Nazir, they exchanged white plastic carrier bags.

The final exchange took place on November 17, before arrests were made and houses were raided.

The drugs thrown between vehicles on June 20 had an estimated street value of £25,000 to£33,000 and a further £27,000 in cash was seized Bashir’s car.

Drugs found at a nature trail in Nottinghamshire forensically linked Paul Day to the stash. Police also found cutting agents paracetamol and caffeine in his storage container.

Abdullah and McCann were found guilty following a trial. The others pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and were sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court.

Mark Day, 46, of Hollyberry Croft, Sutton-in-Ashfield, was jailed for ten years and nine months, and his brother, Paul, of Lindley Avenue, also Sutton-in-Ashfield, was sentenced to 11 years and four months.

Heroin, cocaine, scales, money and dealer bags were seized from street dealer Bernard McCann’s home in Beechwood Close, Sutton-in-Ashfield. The 51-year-old was jailed for nine years.

Courier Matthew Bentley, 45, of Dalestorth Street, Sutton-in-Ashfield, was given seven years and six months for his involvement and 30-year-old Josiah Wiggan, of Buckenham Street, Sheffield, 11 years and 10 months.

Sheffield-based courier Waqas Bashir, 26, of Grimesthorpe, was sentenced to seven years and two months and Wiggan’s right-hand man Christopher Williams, of Daresbury Place, Sheffield, was jailed for eight years and six months.

Taxi driver Mohammed Hader Nazir, 27, of Scott Road, Sheffield, was handed an eight year sentence.

After failing to appear at court, Liban Abdullah, formerly of Holme Lane, Sheffield, was sentenced in his absence to 14 years in prison. A warrant has been issued for his arrest.

Detective Inspector Andy Jones led the investigation at the East Midlands Special Operations Unit.

He said: "This investigation has taken a long time and a lot of hard work to reach this successful conclusion.

"Most of the people involved are career criminals who tried very hard to avoid detection and cover their tracks. Their sentences reflect the key roles they played in bringing large quantities of Class A drugs into the East Midlands."