A key player in a major drug smuggling gang, who fled the country in 2004, has been jailed for nine years today for his involvement in an attempt to smuggle £2 million worth of cocaine into the UK.

Richard Wright Photo: HM Revenue & Customs

Richard Wright, 51, formerly of Chislehurst, Kent, was extradited from the Netherlands.

He was sentenced today for conspiring to import Class A drugs via Zeebrugge in 2004.

Wright had escaped before he could be charged but he continued his illegal activities and was arrested by HM Revenue and Customs officers after he served a jail term in Holland.

Mike O’Grady, Revenue & Customs Assistant Director of Criminal Investigation, said: “Wright fled the UK when circumstances got difficult and he saw we had arrested other gang members associated with the smuggling attempt.

"It became clear that he had continued his illegal activities in the Netherlands in the intervening period when he was arrested by our partners there for similar drug smuggling offences. Combining our intelligence and expertise for both smuggling cases has protected UK citizens and wider European communities from this habitual organised criminal.”

Drugs were believed to be destined for organised crime gangs in Derbyshire and London Credit: HM Revenue & Customs

Seven other gang members were jailed in 2006 following the seizure of 29kg of cocaine at Hull Docks.

The drugs were hidden underneath solidified bitumen, within one of two pods on the rear of a tarmac truck.

The drugs were believed to have been destined for organised crime gangs in Derbyshire and London.