THE MASTERMIND of a £33.5million cocaine smuggling ring has been jailed for 24 years.

Mark Dowling, of Surman Crescent, Brentwood, was named as the brains behind the plot to import 268 kilos (591lbs) of the Class A drug into the UK.

Pilot Andrew Wright, nicknamed “Biggles”, carried out eight trips from Breighton Airfield in Selby, North Yorkshire, to Germany and back over three months in the autumn of 2014.

The 52-year-old was jailed for 19 years for his part in the scam.

Dowling, 43, and his trusted lieutenant Jamie Williams, 38, were also handed stiff jail sentences at the Old Bailey.

Judge Nicholas Cooke QC told them the amount they smuggled was "off the scale" and of "exceptional seriousness ".

Echo: Mark Dowling

"Big fish" Dowling was handed 24 years in jail and his right hand man Williams received 23 years.

Wright, who owned two Cessna light aircraft, used his aerial photography business Skyviews R Us Ltd as a cover for his illegal activities.

Dowling was arrested in Hutton in June last year as he made a handover of 19 kilos of cannabis to drug dealer David Rowe, 57, from Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire.

Earlier, Rowe was handed 18 months in jail for possession of cannabis with intent to supply.

When Dowling's Brentwood house was searched, police recovered documentation indicating the scale of the operation.

In a very short space of time, large sums of money were generated and at one point the plotters had nearly £2 million at their disposal, the court heard.

In all, the cocaine had a total street value of £4.25 million, the court heard.

Williams, of Romford, Dowling, and Wright, of Selby, had previously pleaded guilty to their part in the drug smuggling plot between September 1 and November 18 2014.

Williams was also sentenced for separate drugs, firearms and money laundering offences relating to January 2015.

Dowling had admitted separate offences of transferring criminal property, possessing criminal property and cannabis and cocaine supply.