A DRUG dealer from Oldbury has been jailed for eight years after police brought down a gang who sold huge amounts cocaine and heroin across the Midlands.

Adam Whiteley, aged 35 of Wheatsheaf Road, was one of 13 dealers jailed for over 130 years at Birmingham Crown Court.

The criminal empire which was run from Birmingham and saw drugs hidden in cars specially adapted with secret compartments but police seized more than £1.5 million of cocaine and heroin.

Albanian national Asmirald Miraka, of Margaret Grove, Harborne, orchestrated the operation which saw drugs imported into the UK and distributed to suppliers in Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Nottingham.

Miraka, who was sentenced to 16 years and three months, regularly swapped mobile phones to try and avoid being detected but officers used intelligence and covert tactics to monitor movements and link him to several dealers.

He co-ordinated his three Albanian couriers Desar Asllani, Arjol Cerriku and Aleks Asllani - who were illegally in the UK - to distribute kilos of cocaine between July 2015 and January this year.

They operated from cars including an Audi A6 and Volvo with hidden compartments fitted - either behind the stereo dashboard or in the boot - to try and conceal the drugs.

Desar Asllani, aged 30, and Aleks Asllani, 28, both from Quinton Road, Harborne were both sentenced to 10 years and nine months as was Cerriku, aged 30, Haunch Lane, Kings Heath.

Whiteley's role in the gang was to broker deals with other drug dealing gangs in the Midlands including meeting top gangsters from Wolverhampton, he and the Albanians pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.

Detective Constable Warren Moore, from the Serious and Organised Crime Unit, said: "This was a sophisticated operation involving large amounts of cocaine and heroin.

"Miraka was the lynchpin in co-ordinating the supply of drugs to other dealers and there is no doubt this would have continued without police intervention.

"Drugs can ruin lives and communities and these sentences should act as a strong warning that those involved in such crime will feel the full force of the law."