A SALE man has been sentenced to 22 years behind bars for his part in gang operation aimed at flooding the streets with £4.5million of cocaine and heroin.

Dean McCaffrey, 30, of Brede Walk, Sale, was one of four men jailed for conspiracy to supply class A drugs at Minshull Street Crown Court today, Tuesday September 27.

The gang were sentenced as part of Operation Petral, a crackdown on the supply of class A drugs and organised crime in Manchester, Preston and Cleveland between March and October 2015 and were jailed for a total of 70 years.

In September last year, a vehicle was stopped travelling from Manchester to Cleveland with a hidden compartment containing two kilos of cocaine.

On the same day a warrant was executed at an address in Northenden where six kilos of cocaine and approximately three kilos of heroin were seized.

In October 2015 a search was conducted at an address in Droylsden where a kilo of cocaine was recovered inside the property.

A further kilo of cocaine was recovered later in the day from a vehicle in the Droylsden area.

Further enquiries revealed the group had been involved in the distribution of £4.5million of class A drugs.

Detective Inspector Rob Cousen, of GMP’s Serious and Organised Crime Group, said: “Drugs cause widespread damage in the community and they will not be tolerated.

“This is a fantastic result and I hope it sends the message that we relentlessly pursue and dismantle organised groups that seek to profit from flooding the streets with these substances.

“I want to pay tribute to the operational teams and the members of the public who played a vital role in finding and convicting these men.”