A DRUGS baron who masterminded the smuggling and distribution of £6 million worth of cannabis has been jailed for nine years.

David Statham was described as a "controller and prime mover" behind a gang involved in buying the drugs in southern Spain, importing consignments hidden in lorries and then selling them on to dealers.

Statham, of Holcombe Street, Bury, led the high life with his share of the money, buying expensive cars and going on gambling sprees in city centre casinos.

In one six-month spell he bought chips to the value of £250,000 but ended up losing £100,000.

Once, when he was stopped by police on suspicion of car theft, £30,000 in £50 notes was found in the boot of his car.

Now he is behind bars after a Judge at Manchester Crown Court said he played an important role in a sophisticated organisation.

Judge Peter Atherton said: "You had a lot of money and the only source was the drug importations and supply."

Anthony Morris QC, prosecuting, said Statham accepted the plot involved five smuggling operations in 1997 involving cannabis with a street value of £6 million.

Each load involved about 250 kilos of drugs costing £150,000 each and bought in Spain before being driven to Britain through France via the Eurotunnel.

Other members of the syndicate have already been jailed for their roles which involved transportation and the distribution network.

But the Crown alleged 39-year-old Statham was a "controller" and a "prime mover" in the gang.

"He was the man in charge of it. No evidence has been found by police indicating there was anyone else above him in the pecking orders," said Mr Morris.

Statham passed on instructions from up to 40 telephone kiosks and once used the phone in the Accident and Emergency department at Rochdale Infirmary where he had taken friends for treatment.

His main base was a snooker hall in Rochdale but he and other gang members were being watched by the National Crime Squad.

Their enquiries were almost wrecked when he was stopped by traffic police who found the cash haul in his car but fortunately he was allowed to go.

But a week later, in March 1998 officers swooped on his home in Holcombe Street, Bury. He was arrested but managed to escape after jumping through a bedroom window.

Statham fled to France with a girlfriend and was on the run for nine months until he was arrested again and kept in a French jail until being picked up by English police at the airport in Paris in September, 1999.

He was placed in custody where he finally pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply drugs.