MEMBERS of a criminal gang who ran a major drugs racket like a "well-oiled machine" have been jailed for a total of 33 years.

The gang, operating out of Middlesbrough, supplied heroin to street dealers in the North-East and other parts of the country. Police said the annual turnover was £8m.

Undercover officers from the Cleveland Police Organised Crime Unit were able to infiltrate the supply network and bring it crashing down.

Yesterday, eight members of the gang arrested after police raids were jailed at Teesside Crown Court, when the cases against them were described as "overwhelming".

They all admitted conspiring to supply Class A drugs.

The court heard that more than 10,000 calls were made from two mobile phones used to set up drugs deals between November last year and last March.

Prosecuting, Mike Smith said the operation ran along the lines of a taxi firm with "controller" Tabrez Khan taking calls from addicts, then directing dealers to pick-up points for drug buyers.

Defendant Kerry Bogan was supplied with the heroin and used her home to package it into 1/16th ounce deals worth up to £55 each.

This was distributed to the suppliers in the gang, Paul French, former Teesside University student Amran Bashir, Naveed Gulbhar, Michael Saunders, Michael Arundel and James Rutherford, who were each given enough heroin for up to 30 deals a day.

They would be paid up to £350-a-day by the gang's "money man", Najid Hussain, who handled cash from the heroin sales.

When his address in Middlesbrough was raided, police found £1,300 and a notepad and calculator said to have been used to work out deals.

Some of those involved were said to have been forced to help either because of debts or their own addictions.

Barristers for the gang said there was no evidence of lavish living among those who acted as "lackeys" for others further up the chain.

Judge Peter Bowers said the gang was a major retail outlet for heroin, plaguing towns such as Middlesbrough.

He said: "This is a small tip of a very large iceberg."

Later, Detective Superintendent Gordon Lang said police had been unable to trace millions of pounds in proceeds from the drug dealing, much of which was thought to have ended up abroad.

He said: "This was a massive, well-organised operation in which people made money from selling heroin and wrecking the lives of others."

* Tabrez Khan, 25, of Waterloo Road, Middlesbrough, was jailed for six and-a-half years; Kerry Bogan, 20, of Costa Street, five years; Najid Hussain, 24, of Stamford Street, got three and-a-half years; Michael Arundel, 24, of Belvedere Road, five years; Michael Saunders, 21, of Kelsall Close, four years; Amran Bashir, 27, of Falmouth Street, three and-a-half years; Naveed Gulbhar, 22, of Park Lane, three and-a-half years; James Rutherford, 23, Sedgebrook Gardens, two years suspended. Paul French, 24, of Percy Street, was not present and will be sentenced later.