FOUR men have been convicted of an international smuggling operation involving drugs with a street value of up to £200 million.

They were arrested after police and customs officers from three countries covertly filmed them bringing cocaine, amphetamines, ecstasy and cannabis into the UK. They smuggled millions of pounds worth of drugs in crates of engine parts, using legitimate haulage firms.

The men were arrested in co-ordinated swoop when police raided two rented industrial units in Radcliffe and found almost £4.2 million worth of cocaine, amphetamines and cannabis.

Bolton Crown Court was told the men set up a company and sent small crates of engine parts to Belgium and France, which were returned to the UK packed with drugs. The gang was smashed after a huge undercover customs and police surveillance operation, involving officers from several countries.

The operation, spread over several months, eventually led to the massive haul of drugs found in the rented industrial units. Gang members involved in the smuggling played the roles of managing director, directors, sales reps and delivery men.

Paul Bell, aged 37, of Hardcastle Apartments, Bradshaw Hall Drive, Bolton; Gerald McLeish, aged 42, of Clifton Close, Heywood; Ian Longden, aged 38, of Ridgeway Street, Ancoats, Manchester and Nigel Hughes, aged 33, of Cricket Close, Chapelfield, Coventry, were convicted after denying two charges of conspiracy to sell Class A and conspiracy to sell Class B drugs.

Paul Earle, aged 31, of Radway Road, Huyton, Merseyside, and Paul Dunn, aged 34, of Beech Avenue, Prescott, Merseyside, changed their pleas to guilty during the trial.

Christian Wolfendale, aged 35, of Cross Lane, and Simon Balshaw, aged 30, of Rupert Street, both Radcliffe, admitted their roles before the trial. Stanley Bryson, additionally charged with money laundering, died before the court case.

Christopher King, aged 38, of Walsingham Avenue, Middleton, and Paul Wyatt, aged 38, of Mancroft Road, Caddington, Bedfordshire, had also denied the charges.

Small-time Heywood jeweller Gerald McLeish was the managing director of the drugs operation and ran its activities.

McLeish admitted he had more than half a million pounds in cash stashed away but claimed some of it was from selling illegal alcohol and cigarettes.

His co-conspirator Paul Bell claimed he had no fixed address but when police raided his luxury Bolton flat they found more than £50,000 hidden in shoeboxes.

Ian Longden was the delivery man seen regularly collecting consignments from the Radcliffe unit for shipment. When Longden was arrested in a cul-de-sac with Christopher King, police found 12 kilos of cannabis in his delivery van.

Paul Dunn was the regional sales manager for Liverpool and the man who engaged driver Paul Earle. Nigel Hughes was a director of the company responsible for transport services.

The men will be sentenced together at a later date. The jury was discharged by Judge William Morris after they failed to reach a verdict in in the case against King and Wyatt.