A BUILDER has been jailed for 13 years following a £2million drugs bust.

Lee Maddin, 40, of Fifth Avenue, Wickford, was sentenced for conspiracy to supply cocaine.

Jason Parker, 41, and Thomas Hart, 26 both unemployed of Wheelers Hill, Little Waltham, were sentenced to 23 years and 11 years' imprisonment, respectively, for conspiracy to supply cocaine, cannabis and ketamine.

Parker's stepfather, Paul Bovill, 59, of Runwell Road, Wickford, was convicted of attempting to pervert the course of justice and will be sentenced at a later date.

The men were caught with 28 kilograms of high-purity cocaine, ketamine and cannabis.

Detectives from the Met's Special Intelligence Section (SIS) along with Essex Police and the Met's sniffer dogs recovered the drugs from Parker and Hart's barn-conversion in Chelmsford, Maddin's house in Wickford and Bovill's van on Thursday, May 7.

When police raided his home, Parker tried to escape, running through brambles and scaling a six-foot garden fence only to be found hiding in a ditch minutes later by police dogs.

At Parker and Hart's converted barn, they found stashes of cocaine weighing in excess of 13 kilograms. Seven kilograms of cocaine were found in a false bottom in a walk-in wardrobe; another five kilograms were found in a sports bag in the hallway.

Cocaine, ketamine and cannabis were also found hidden in a glasses case, a suitcase, kitchen cupboards, an oven glove and the fridge.

At Maddin’s Wickford home, several stashes of cocaine were recovered including a quantity found in a bumbag branded "Cocaine & Caviar".

Detectives found the largest single cache of cocaine - 10 one-kilo blocks - in a holdall in the back of Bovill's van when they stopped him trying to drive off as they arrived at his home.

Officers also recovered a plethora of "dealers' lists" - notepads and documents detailing drugs buyers' names, quantity and type of drug purchased and the sum of money owed - in the barn.

Detective Constable Ben Parratt said: "Through this investigation, we stopped £2 million worth of drugs being brought from Essex into London's communities, and the culprits are now in prison.

"But our work doesn't stop there. We seized approximately £7,000 cash under the Proceeds of Crime Act during the raids, some of which will go into policing, and we are seeking confiscation of the individuals' assets."

Maddin and Bovil both pleaded guilty to the charges. Parker and Hart were found guilty following a trial. The three men were all jailed at Southwark Crown Court on Friday.