Detectives in London have spoken of their satisfaction after a proactive operation culminated in the smashing of a drugs gang and the seizure of £400,000 worth of heroin.

Speaking after the sentencing of Shane Drew (23), Wale Edeh (27), Hamad Khan (22) and 27-year-old Charles Jimmy, DC Jim Casey of the Metropolitan Police’s Op Trident said the result followed a “lengthy and meticulous” investigation.

“The men were organised and were prepared to handle large quantities of heroin without a thought for the lives they would go on to destroy,” he added.

Snaresbrook Crown Court was told how Drew, Edeh and Jimmy had been tracked by Op Trident officers as they drove in two vehicles to an address in E18.

They were seen entering a property before leaving with a large bag to approach Hamad Khan, who had been waiting in a vehicle nearby.

Officers stopped the quartet and discovered that the bag contained three large blocks of heroin while Edeh was also carrying a stun gun. An additional search of Drew's address revealed further drugs and £1,000 in cash.

Drew, of Beck Road, Hackney, E8 and Jimmy of Langbourne House, Effra Parade, Brixton, were both handed down nine-year custodial sentences. Edeh, of Westrow Drive, Barking, who also admitted possession of the stun gun, received a custodial term of six years and nine months.

The trio all had all earlier pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.

Khan, whose address was given as Fraser Road, Edmonton was found guilty of conspiracy to supply heroin. He has handed down a ten-year prison sentence to run consecutively with a four-year custodial tariff for an unrelated matter.