FOUR men including one from Brentwood have been jailed after police found cannabis resin worth more than £6million on the back of a lorry and at an industrial unit.

Officers investigating a drugs supply ring stopped the hired flatbed lorry after it left premises at Lodge Farm in Grange Avenue, Mayland, on the morning of January 28, 2015.

It was loaded with wooden pallets in between panes of glass and mirrors.

But a roadside check revealed packages of drugs concealed within the pallets and police arrested the driver, Peter Tough, 53, and his passenger, Danny Williams, 41.

Another load packaged in the same way was found at the industrial unit.

Officers discovered a total of 1,330 individual packs of cannabis resin with an estimated weight of 1,324kg.

It had an approximate street value of £6,622,500.

Enquiries revealed the drugs were being hidden within glass shipments imported from Spain.

Gang ringleader, Danny Sharland, 41, of Highwood Close, Brentwood, right-hand man Daniel Brazier, 38, of Gadwell Close, London, Williams, of no fixed address, and Tough, of Leslie Road, Newham, pleaded guilty to being concerned with the supply of cannabis at an earlier hearing at Basildon Crown Court.

They returned to court for sentencing today, Thursday, May 28.

Sharland was jailed for seven-and-a-half years and Brazier, Tough and Williams were each jailed for six years.

Ds Ed Mayo, of the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, said: "These men were an integral part of a sophisticated organised criminal gang who imported drugs on a large scale.

"Sharland was the leader of the four, while Brazier was a trusted member of the group who orchestrated Tough and Williams, the physical workers, in moving the consignment.

"These men are now behind bars after a lengthy police investigation, in which a substantial amount of cannabis resin has been taken off the streets.”

DCI Steve Worron, of the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, said: "The convictions of these men and the sentences they have received protect the communities of Essex.

"Drugs importation on this scale can cause considerable harm to communities and frequently results in vulnerable people being exploited.

"These men operated an organisation crime group in the belief they were beyond the law.

"Through a determined and considered investigation, officers and staff from the Serious Crime Directorate have gathered overwhelming evidence that all four men lived pursued a life of crime that had the potential to result in significant wealth being accumulated.

"They will not profit from their criminality and will now be imprisoned for a considerable period of time.

"This should serve as a warning to others who are thinking of committing similar offences.”