A gang which supplied £2 million of cannabis to three different big-time dealers in Devon has been jailed for a total of 21 years.

The Albanian-run operation transported more than half a ton of skunk to Devon, Cornwall and Somerset over almost a year before it was broken up by police.

Builder Fatos Metua ran the plot from his home in Wolverhampton and recruited three friends to act as drivers and minders for the 51 delivery trips.

There were two journeys a week, each carrying around 13.5 kilograms of skunk cannabis in Sports Direct carrier bags which were delivered to Devon dealers Aidan Northern, Steven Walters, and Gulam Choudhury.

They acted as wholesalers, supplying street dealers all over Devon in quantities of a kilogram at a time, known in street slang as boxes.

The police spent weeks watching the dealers before they swooped in September last year as a delivery was being made to a curry house in Topsham.

Officers found thousands of pounds in cash, gold and silver bars, large amounts of cannabis, and empty Sports Direct bags at the homes of all the Devon-based dealers.

Messages on phones showed the dealers were in regular contact with Metua in Wolverhampton and the couriers bringing the cannabis to Devon on the day of the deliveries.

The leader of the gang was former school caretaker Metua, who recruited some of the workers from his building company to help him.

His right-hand man was fellow Albanian Roland Toska, who made the trips to Devon in one car with henchman Kosrat Ali while courier Mathin Durrani drove in a second car.

Durrani was a male model and naked butler who was tempted into the plot by the offer of easy money.

The drugs were all home-grown skunk, which is the street name for the flowering buds of the female plants. They are thought to have been farmed in large-scale growing operations in the West Midlands.

Metua, aged 46, of Paget Road, Wolverhampton; Toska, aged 37, of Park Road, Wolverhampton; and Kosrat Ali, aged 25, all admitted three counts of conspiracy.

Northern, aged 29, of East Nynehead, Wellington; Steven Walters, aged 37, of Fernworthy Park, Crediton; Choudhury, aged 44, of Bonhay Road, Exeter, and Neil Mounce, aged 37, of Avalon Close, Exeter, all admitted a single count of conspiracy.

Miah, of High Street, Topsham, admitted being concerned in the supply of drugs and Walters’ father Roy, aged 73, of The Oaks, Yeoford, admitted money laundering.

Metua was jailed for five years four months, Toska for three years eight months, Durrani for four years. Northern, Steven Walters and Chaudhury were each jailed for two years and eight months.

Mounce was jailed for two years, suspended for two years and ordered to do 150 hours unpaid community work. Miah was ordered to do 200 hours unpaid work and Roy Walters was jailed for four months, suspended for a year.

Ali will be sentenced later.

Judge Erik Salomonsen told the men: ‘This was a conspiracy to supply drugs to the South West from the Midlands by an organised crime group led by Metua.

‘He arranged to supply three organised crime groups in Exeter, Crediton, Tiverton, Taunton and Wellington.’

Mr Peter Coombe, prosecuting, said phone and automatic number plate camera records showed there were 51 delivery trips from Wolverhampton to Exeter between February and September 2017.

Each is thought to have carried around 13.5 kilograms of skunk which was sold to Exeter dealers for roughly £44,000 a time. Metua remained in Wolverhampton but kept records of how much he sold and how much he was owed.

The total weight of drugs brought to Devon was at least 560 kilograms, and the value of the last 34 trips alone was £1.3 million.

Walters was selling £4,000 to £6,000 a week and he and his father were arrested with 17 kilograms of cannabis, £2,000 cash, silver bars and gold ingots.

Northern’s had 337 grams of cannabis, £270, gold and silver and Sports Direct bags at his former home in New North Road, Exeter, and 7.3 kilograms of skunk and in Mounce’s garage. Metua’s records showed he had paid him £127,000 for drugs.

Toska, Ali and Durrani were arrested while delivering 13.5 kilograms to Miah, who was keeping it for Chaudhury, who had received £285,000 worth of drugs, paid £270,000 and still owed the rest to Metua.

The drugs were distributed throughout Devon and into Cornwall and the Taunton and Wellington areas of Somerset.

Mr Keir Monteith, for Metua, said he the value of the cannabis was lower than police estimates because it was of pure quality. He said he was trying to provide for his wife and two children in Albania and pay for hospital treatment of his aunt in Italy.

Mr Christopher Whitehouse, for Toska, said he came to Britain to work but struggled because he spoke no English and had no papers. He worked for Metua, who recruited him to the plot.

Mr Joss Ticehurst, for Durrani, said he was acting under direction, was paid only £150 a trip, and had nothing to do with the handling of drugs or money at either end.

He said he was a student who had been working hard in other jobs to pay for his education.

Miss Sophie O’Sullivan, for Northern, said he was a hard working roofer who became involved through his own cocaine and cannabis habits which left him in debt to drug dealers.

Miss Emma Martin, for Mounce, said he had been pressured into taking part because of drug debts of £15,000 which dated back more than 10 years.

Mr Lee Bremridge, for Steven Walters, said he had lost his job as a builder in Kingsteignton as a result of his arrest. He became involved because he started using cannabis after his marriage broke up.

Miss Kelly Scrivener, for Roy Walters, said he was trying to help his son by delivering packages of money to a man he met at St David’s Station in Exeter. He did so because he feared for his son’s safety.

Mr Barry White, for Choudhury, said he fears he will lose his home and all contact with his family during his jail sentence.

Mr Nicolas Gerasimidis, for Miah, said he was doing a favour for his friend Choudhury and had only handled one delivery before his arrest.