A DRUG-smuggler from Nantwich has been jailed for 16 years for shipping over £1million of heroin into the country.

Roger Calland, of Longhill Lane, near Audlem and Ian Shaw from Rochdale were convicted of drug smuggling after a five-day trial.

The class A drugs were found when Shaw was stopped by customs at Dover in a routine check last December.

Calland, aged 36, was arrested when officers learned he was the registered owner of the vehicle, on which the petrol tank had been specially modified by the pair.

He was still in the vicinity of the docks after arriving on foot on an earlier ferry.

Judge Michael Henshall told them: "These drugs are viciously addictive substances and the suppliers make vast profits.

"The downward spiral of addiction caused by such drugs often leads to death.

"You are not the organisers. As trusted associates, you provided the car and used your ingenuity to alter the petrol tank to conceal the drugs.

"You were also prepared to take the risk of bringing the venture to success, but failed because of the vigilance of customs officers."

The drugs haul weighed over 10 kilos with a combined street value of over £1,092,000.

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