A gang of drug dealers from Salford were caught after one of them hurled a rucksack containing half million pounds worth of cocaine into undergrowth.

Now five men have been jailed for planning to flood the city’s streets with the drug.

On August 11, 2015, Thomas Kavanagh, 58, of Milner Street, Swinton , visited the home of Terence Harrison, 59, of Windy Arbor Road, Whiston, Merseyside, carrying a rucksack.

He was being watched by undercover police and was being driven in an X-type Jaguar by Mark Ward, 52, of Fairhurst Drive, Worsley .

He emerged a short time later still carrying the bag and police then saw the vehicle pull onto a footpath on Chorley Road, Swinton.

Kavanagh got out and walked down an alleyway and was followed by police.

When he realised he was being pursued he ran off towards New Cross Street, throwing the bag into bushes.

He was arrested and the bag which contained two kilos of cocaine with a street value of £560,000 was recovered.

Ward was also arrested and found to be in possession of four mobile phones.

Analysis of the phones showed that while another member of the gang, Bernard Cleary, 44, of Norbury Grove, Swinton, was in Tenerife on holiday with his family he had made numerous calls to Thomas Jeffrey, 29, of Bolton Road, Pendleton, Salford, and following Kavanagh’s arrest, there was a flurry of calls between the pair.

Harrison was jailed for five-and-a-half years, Cleary for six years, Jeffrey for five years and Ward for four years at Minshull Street Crown Court .

Kavanagh had previously been jailed for four years eight at an earlier hearing. All were sentenced for conspiracy to supply a class A drug.

Sergeant Ryan Grumbridge said: “We will relentlessly pursue and dismantle organised crime groups. These crime groups make vast sums of money dealing Class A drugs and the knock-on effect causes misery in our communities.

“This is a fight that we cannot do alone and I would like to thank the public for their continued support of our on-going disruption work being done to help keep our communities safe.

“If you suspect somebody is dealing drugs in your community, I would urge you to contact police on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.”