A GROUP of Cub Scouts have foiled a large-scale drugs operation after unearthing a stash of heroin worth 23,000 whilst on a camping trip.

The boys and girls from the Heighington Cub Scout group, aged between eight and 11, have been praised by police after their discovery lead to the imprisonment of the ringleaders of the operation.

The Cubs were camping near Denton, three miles north-west of Darlington, when they made the find in woodland.

The drugs, wrapped in measured quantities and ready to sell, were found in a coffee jar and a plastic lunchbox.

Police constable Tim Gargett said: "They didn't know what they had found, but the Cub leader thought it could be drugs so she got straight in touch with the police.

"But they couldn't have realised then that they were holding over £20,000 worth of heroin."

The find led to the arrest of two cousins who the police had been trying to catch for over a year.

Last Friday at Middlesbrough Crown Court, Simon Hall, 35, from Humber Place, Darlington, was given six years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to supply heroin over a 13 month period.

His younger cousin William Stuart Hall, 26, of Chandos Street, Darlington was handed a three and a half year sentence after pleading guilty to being concerned in supplying heroin over a 13 month period.

The pair had frustrated police since October 2005, and had slipped through the net three times before they were finally caught in November 2006.

Police surveillance teams said the pair, who were the ringleaders in what police believe could have been a bigger operation, visited plantations and woods around Darlington on a daily basis.

Their most regular haunt was along Stanhope Road where they would stash drugs in wooded areas around Denton and Summerhouses.

They would visit the woods each morning to pick up the drugs to distribute around Darlington, Shildon and Bishop Auckland.

On three occasions the police stopped the pair, but they swallowed the drugs before they could be seized.

On a number of occasions police followed the pair out to the stash points, resulting in several high-speed car chases. But on each occasion they escaped.

But PC Gargett said the Cubs find, in July 2006, confirmed to detectives that the men were involved in a large scale operation and it proved to be one of the most critical pieces of evidence.

"The Cubs' find showed us how organised and deeply involved they were. We were very appreciative to them for their prompt action as we had been on the case for so long," he said.

The cousins were arrested on 29 November 2006, when they were detained at Pierremont Post Office after a visit to a stash near Stressholme Golf Course, near Darlington.

Simon Hall attempted to swallow three quarters of an ounce of the drug, with a street value of approximately 2,300, but about half of it was recovered from his mouth. He later overdosed from the intake, having ingested over 1000 of heroin.

He was rushed to hospital and was kept in for three days, during which time he nearly died.

But when he regained consciousness, detectives charged him with conspiracy to supply heroin and he was remanded in custody until last week.

PC Gargett said that everyone involved in the operation had been commended for their efforts.

He added: "It was a very successful operation in the end. These characters have been responsible for supplying over a long period of time. Simon Hall was one of the major players in Darlington so we are very pleased with the result.

"These men weren't supplying addicts, they were supplying the dealers and would only deal in substantial quantities."

A spokesman for the Scout Association said: "We are very proud of them and they clearly did the right thing."

The story of youngsters foiling crime comes a day after the Northern Echo exclusively revealed that three young boys in County Durham had discovered a sawn-off shotgun in woodland just yards from Frankland Prison.

It was feared the gun could have been planted, possibly for a break-out.