TWO Huddersfield area men have been jailed as part of a huge drug smuggling ring.
Two others, from Heckmondwike and Dewsbury, have also been jailed.
In all, 19 men received jail sentences totalling 117 years after a series of trials at various courts.
Ian Midwood, 38, of Bank View, Brockholes, got a 10-year sentence and Stefan Beeby, 25, of New Laithe Close, Lowerhouses, was given seven years.
Ian Connolly, 38, of Northfield Terrace, Heckmondwike, was jailed for seven-and-a-half years and Lee Cox, 27, of North Park Street, Westborough, Dewsbury, got six years and nine months.
The four were arrested after detectives swooped on a BMW car at the Woolley service area on the M1 in November, 2004, and seized 300,000 Ecstasy tablets.
In all, during the two-year inquiry police recovered drugs with a street value of more than £2.24m.
They had targeted a gang distributing Ecstasy, cocaine, amphetamines and cannabis across West Yorkshire and Nottingham.
Many of the drug deals were carried out at service areas across the motorway network.
In addition to the seizure at Woolley police carried out operations near Junction 41 of the M1 north of Wakefield, at Rothwell Sports Centre, near Leeds, and at a petrol station in north London, where gang members collected supplies of cocaine.
Detectives from the National Crime Squad used surveillance cameras and mobile phone records to gather evidence.
Det Chief Insp Russ L'Homme said: "We believe this gang, which often used violence, had been conducting their drug trafficking successfully for a number of years.
"The positive impact this will have on communities cannot be underestimated.
"This has led to a reduction in the availability of drugs on the streets."
The ringleader of the gang, Jonathan Quinn, of Nottingham, was jailed for 18 years at Sheffield Crown Court on Wednesday.
More court hearings are to take place to try and recover the proceeds of the gang's crimes.
