EIGHT hardcore drug dealers who operated across Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale have been taken off the streets and jailed for almost 25 years between them.

The men, who peddled Class A drugs, were arrested and convicted in a huge police crackdown on so-called “untouchables”.

As part of the operations, more than 50 people have been arrested by detectives since last year and almost £100,000 has been seized from dealers.

Police said that they set up a targeted crime team whose aim was to “make the lives of these drug dealers a misery”.

In the latest success, a Nelson heroin trader was jailed for five years after Burnley Crown Court heard he had drugs worth more than £7,500 and £5,000 in cash stashed away.

Raja Khan, 29, of Derby Street, admitted charges of possessing heroin and crack cocaine with intent to supply but claimed he dealt to pay off a drugs debt.

After the case, Det Insp Dean Holden, intelligence manager at Lancashire police’s Pennine division, said the five-year sentence acted as a warning to East Lancashire’s drug peddlers.

And he said the conviction of Khan made a significant dent in the Pendle drugs network.

“He probably had a number of street runners working for him,” he said.

“He would hold drugs and then pass them on but he was making quite a bit of money.

“We took thousands of pounds off him and to have that floating around we can see he was making a lot out of it.”

The convictions of Khan and seven other hardcore dealers are the result of a crackdown by detectives and uniform officers across the Pennine division, which covers Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale.

Police used covert tactics, roadchecks, community meetings as well as the targeted crime team.

Mr Holden said: “If I was a drug dealer and the targeted crime team were on my back, I would be concerned because they use all the tricks in the book, from warrants to strip searches.

“We want to make the lives of these drug dealers a misery. We are trying to create a culture of fear around them and it is working.”

Det Chief Insp Ian Critchley, head of Pennine CID, added: “It is about the impact these people have on communities and the fact that they see themselves as untouchable.

“They make a living out of it, they are organised and they have made a lifestyle choice.

“People know it’s going on in their community but it’s very intimidating for them and we are very grateful for the intelligence they pass on and we will act on it.

“We are making a real impact but we are not complacent and we want to warn these people: if you get caught you will get a substantial sentence.”

Among the eight heavyweight dealers convicted since November is 19-year-old Usman Maqsood, of Ferndale Street, Burnley.

He was jailed for 15 months after Burnley Crown Court was told he sold crack cocaine from a phone box just yards from the gates of Burnley College, in Ormerod Road.

Meanwhile, Marc Swain, 33, of Fountain Street, Nelson, got two years and three months, while Bodrul Alam, 23, of Gordon Street, Burnley, was jailed for three years.

Waseen Afzal, 27, of Camden Street, Nelson, was sentenced to 21 months and 25-year-old John Heap, of Heys Close, Cloughfold, got two years and four months behind bars.

Asjid Ali, 29, of Stoneyhurst Height, Brierfield, was jailed for three years and three months, while Tahir Khan, 26, of Colne Road, Burnley, was sentenced to four years and eight months.

All were convicted of dealing Class A drugs.