Prada-stamped cocaine blocks sold by gang

West Midlands Police said the gang bought, sold and delivered 56kg (123lbs) of cocaine

Four men who sold Prada-stamped cocaine bricks worth £5.6m have been jailed.

Vikram Virdee, Dean Riley, Richard Yarker and Karl McQuillan bought and sold 56kg (123lbs) of the drug during 2020, police said.

Detectives found drugs hidden in secret compartments in four cars the gang used to deliver cocaine around the UK including Worcester, Gloucestershire, Nottingham and Wales.

They were sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court on Monday.

Over 40 hours of CCTV were seized by the West Midlands Regional Organised Crime Unit.

They also found images the group sent each other on encrypted mobile phone network EncroChat of bundles of money and cocaine they had stamped with the designer name.

Vikram Virdee and Dean Riley were jailed for their parts in the gang

Virdee, 35, of no fixed address, coordinated the gang's involvement in buying and suppling the illegal drugs and was sentenced to 17 years.

He was out on licence at the time for convictions for similar offences.

Riley, 56, also of no fixed address, handled the cash payments for the gang, often at his home at the time in Swadlincote, dealing with thousands of pounds at a time.

He was sentenced to nine years and 10 months after being convicted of possession with intent to supply cocaine and the acquisition, use and possession of criminal property.

Karl McQuillan and Richard Yarker were also found guilty

Yarker, 50, was sentenced to 15 years after being convicted in June 2021 for the possession with intent to supply cocaine and the acquisition, use and possession of criminal property.

McQuillan, 30, of Howells Close, Bedworth, Warwickshire, who worked directly for Yarker, was sentenced to eight years and three months after being convicted of supplying cocaine.

3kg (6.6lb) of cocaine was seized from Richard Yarker.

Det Ch Insp Leanne Lowe said: "This was a complex investigation in which we worked through lots of evidence; conversations, images and CCTV footage as well as mobile phone data to piece together what these men were doing and how they were connected to one another.

"Not only have we disrupted a chain of supply, we have also removed a huge quantity of drugs."

The gang had sent images of money to each other using the mobile network EncroChat