A WIRRAL couple who enjoyed a lavish lifestyle while flooding the streets with millions of pounds worth of class A drugs have both been jailed.

A court heard that 32-year-old Ian Dunn and Angela Stephens, 21, were the masterminds behind a six-month conspiracy to secretly import customised metal drums containing up to £11m worth of heroin and cocaine a time.

Dunn's brother, Paul, a gym owner, also took part in the plot and another Wirral man, Gary Williams, was involved with Class B drugs.

Judge Gerald Clifton said the evidence showed there were at least 15 different importations of the drug-filled drums before they were quickly moved out.

The gang had been motivated by "huge greed", he said, "It clearly was immensely profitable for those higher up in the hierarchy."

Ian Dunn, who admitted nine charges of conspiracy to supply class A and B drugs, was jailed for 16 years while Stephens, who denied her role in the plot, was jailed for 15 years.

Jailing Dunn, Judge Clifton said he accepted he was in poor health.

But he said: "You are someone who suffers so much from rheumatoid arthritis, yet you were all too willing to trap others by the effects of drug."

Paul Dunn, 29, of Farnalls Green Lane, Meols, who admitted seven charges of conspiracy to supply class A and B drugs, was jailed for 16 years.

"Paradoxically, you ran a gym but were happy to cause so much physical decline in others," he told him.

Gary Williams, 31, of Cambrian Road, Moreton, who admitted being involved with class B drugs was jailed for seven years.

Dunn and Stephens, helped by Paul Dunn, had set up a fake company, Blue Crown Storage, to act as a front for their illegal trade.

Using an isolated warehouse on the Clayhill industrial estate in Neston they shipped in the secret containments of very pure heroin and cocaine from Amsterdam.

The drugs were stashed in false bottoms in metal drums, apparently contained primer. After arriving at the warehouse, they were cut open to reveal the hidden drugs.

Judge Clifton said: "Those who deal in drugs are an enormous harm to the community.

"The offences of drug trafficking themselves bring in their wake other serious crimes, murder, robbery, extortion and terrorism.

"The final users of drugs suffer severe physical and psychological injury. The ultimate harm is that drugs kill people."

Altogether eight people involved in the "professional and sophisticated" plot were jailed on Friday for a total of 113 years.

William Baker, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court, that Dunn, who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and was on disability benefits, made repeated trips to Amsterdam to organise the deliveries, sometimes going with Stephens.

When police officers raided the home of Ian Dunn and Stephens in Chippenham Avenue, Greasby, they discovered a jacuzzi in the back garden, luxury cars, and a home cinema system.

They also found £46,325 cash, a cash counting machine and documents showing they had paid a £10,000 deposit on a penthouse apartment at the Red Sea Beach Resort in Egypt.

In the days before the conspirators were caught, CCTV was installed which captured them running their business.

The gang were finally snared on October 16 when Serious Organised Crime Agency officers swooped as they handed over the drugs to couriers.

At 7.50am that morning Dunn and Stephens collected two cardboard boxes from the unit. They contained 44-and-a-half kilograms of heroin worth £11m on the streets.

They were arrested as Dunn delivered £11m worth of heroin to four couriers at Clatterbridge Hospital.

Rehman Rana, 24, Mohammed Ejaz, 47, Asim Azam, 25, all of Ilford, Essex, and Ateeq Mirza, 43, of Wakefield, had driven up to collect the drugs.

By 11am that day officers were searching Dunn and Stephens’s home.

But Mr Baker said Paul Dunn must have seen the raid and desperately called fellow conspirator Williams in a frantic attempt to empty the Neston warehouse.

Williams loaded 14kg of cannabis and 315kg of cannabis resin on to a van and left a further 315kg of cannabis resin and 23kg of amphetamine to be removed later.

But as Williams tried to flee, officers pounced and seized all the drugs, worth £4.6m.

Also inside the warehouse they found 1,000 ecstasy tablets, while upstairs a sophisticated cannabis farm was found growing under a hydroponics system.

They also found the car keys for an Audi Q6 worth £26,000 and a £24,000 Range Rover.

Officers also raided a van in Birkenhead destined for the warehouse carrying six drums. When they were cut open, they found heroin, cocaine and cannabis worth £11.3m.

Jeffrey Clarke, defending, said Ian Dunn had been motivated by his desire to move abroad believing the heat would help his condition.

"Having tried so many different ways to relive the excruciating pain and discomfort, he thought that a life and existence in hotter climes was one way to relieve the pain. That is shown by the fact he had put the monies down on a residence in Egypt.

"He clearly decided, however terrible the source of the finance, that he was seeking to gain a life abroad. That was the thrust of his motivation."

Philip Curran, defending Stephens, told how she had been a naive teenager when she became involved with Ian Dunn.

Defence barrister Julian Nutter said Paul Dunn had only become involved at a much later stage.

He had only accompanied his brother to Amsterdam for his birthday and was not involved in the importation.

Couriers Mirza was jailed for 17 years, Rana for 16 years, Ejaz for 14 years and Azam for 12 years.