THE leader of a West Yorkshire drugs gang has been jailed for three years after a painstaking police investigation helped uncover the network he ran from a jail cell.

Bradford Crown Court heard how a special team of officers and interpreters was set up to monitor and transcribe hundreds of recorded phone calls made by Chaudhuri Fiaz Hussain to his associates, including a Huddersfield man, while he was on remand at Leeds Prison.

And the court was told Hussain's right-hand man Nayyer Hafiz, 32, who was locked up for 30 months, was said to have had all the trappings of a drug dealer, despite claiming to work as a taxi base operator.

Prosecutor Alistair McDonald QC said Hafiz drove a Mercedes sports car and rented a luxury flat at The Melting Point complex in Firth Street, Huddersfield.

In December 2004 police searched the apartment and recovered cash, documentation linking Hafiz to Hussain and a photograph of Hafiz posing with a Ferrari.

The court heard that Hussain's brother-in-law Nadeem Hanif, 29, also acted as one of his lieutenants in the drugs operation and was linked to a Porsche 911 turbo coupe which was bought with the proceeds of crime.

Hanif later took the Porsche to Holland where Hussain's brother Chaudhry Sajad Hussain used it while he was on the run for attempted murder following a shooting in Halifax.

Mr McDonald explained how Chaudhry Fiaz Hussain, 32, had been awaiting trial on unrelated matters in 2004 when the police operation was mounted.

He said the police team had to listen to about 1,800 calls during which Hussain and his co-accused spoke in Punjabi, English and even used a rudimentary code when referring to drugs.

Chaudhry Fiaz Hussain, of no fixed abode, Hafiz and Hanif, of Harrow Street, Halifax, all admitted conspiracy to supply drugs between February 2003 and August 2006.

Hanifwas jailed for 21 months for his role.

Chaudhry Fiaz Hussain was told he would have to pay back just over £116,000 or face a further two years behind bars.