MORE than £350,000 worth of drugs have been taken off West Country streets and 11 people sentenced, following an investigation by the police’s serious crime squad.

Supply of class A drugs such as heroin and amphetamines and money laundering were just some of the offences committed in the South West by 11 people from across the country.

Adrian Watts, of Lower Church Road in Weston, was sentenced to 15 months in prison at Bristol Crown Court on Monday after he was charged with conspiracy to supply class B drugs.

The 40-year-old was one of the 11 who pleaded guilty to drug offences following the success of Operation Dusk.

Officers seized heroin worth nearly £12,000, amphetamines worth more than £300,000, mephedrone (M-Cat) worth around £45,000 and quantities of crack cocaine.

Several kilos of cutting agents were also recovered and suspected fraud in excess of £50,000 were also committed across the country.

The investigation involved five police forces in the South West, including Avon and Somerset Constabulary.

Of the other defendants, six were from Liverpool and three were from Plymouth and they were jailed for nearly 25 years combined.

Detective Inspector Paul Fell said: “This result should give a warning to drug dealers across the country that if they come to the South West to commit offences, we will be waiting.

“This operation has resulted in a significant amount of drugs being taken off the street, people being brought to justice and making the South West a safer place.

“Drugs cause misery to families and communities and we are committed to tackling those that distribute them.

“We will now seek to recover the money these people made from dealing drugs to ensure they have in no way benefited from their crime.”

Two other Liverpool-based gangs were jailed in December and March for bringing drugs to Weston and the police have reiterated their zero tolerance stance to dealing.

Detective Sergeant Saj Rizvi who leads North Somerset’s Targeting Team said: “We want to send out a very strong message not only to people in Weston that we pull out all the stops to lock these people up, but also to the drug dealers themselves not to risk coming here. If you deal drugs for other people, you become part of a conspiracy, which will mean you end up in jail.”

Suspected drug dealing can be reported by calling 101 or anonymously through Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.