TWO drug runners who were part of a gang that used fake ambulances to smuggle drugs worth £1.6bn into the UK have been jailed.

Norman McNestrie, 50, from Consett, County Durham, and Paul Robson, 54, from Newcastle, posed as suited and booted travelling salesmen to collect drugs from fake paramedics.

Bogus patients were transported into the country from the Netherlands in "ambulances" packed with cocaine and heroin.

Robson was caught by officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA) handing over 10kg of cocaine to an Albanian drug dealer in February 2015, and after searching his car they found another 33kg of the drug and 2kg of heroin. The total haul was worth £6.2 million.

McNestrie was arrested in July 2015 after phone records showed that he had been in regular contact with Robson, and number plate data confirmed they had been in Essex and Suffolk when the fake ambulances were making drop-offs, the NCA said.

The pair were both jailed at Kingston Crown Court on Wednesday.

Robson, who had earlier admitted conspiracy to supply class A drugs, was sentenced to 15 years while McNestrie, who was found guilty of the offence after a trial, was given 19 years and three months.

NCA branch commander Oliver Higgins said: "Under the guise of professional travelling salesmen going about their business, McNestrie and Robson were responsible for supplying vast quantities of class A drugs around the UK. They thought that the professional manner in which they operated - driving nice cars and wearing smart suits - would allow them to operate under the radar of law enforcement.

"Having access to communications data enabled officers to link the activities of McNestrie and Robson to the fake Dutch ambulances and the substantial amount of drugs they had brought into the UK. We will continue to target the upper echelons of drug trafficking and hold those involved to account in order to protect the public."