THREE men have been jailed for a total of 20 years after police smashed a massive drug operation based on a quiet Radcliffe street.

Kris Brocklehurst, aged 29, of Alma Street, Radcliffe, Dale McDonagh, aged 30, of Tweedsdale Close, Whitefield, and Joseph Galloway, aged 27, of Shetland Way, Radcliffe, were sentenced at Bolton Crown Court on Monday after admitting conspiracy to supply class A drugs.

Detectives spent months trailing the activities of the trio who were involved in the dealing of millions of pounds worth of cocaine stashed in Brocklehurst’s house in Alma Street before dozens of officers raided it in March.

In a haul almost unprecedented in Bury, police found a holdall hidden behind a bath panel crammed with cocaine with an estimated street value of £1.8 million.

A set of digital scales was also found — and the discoveries did not stop there.

Police also found more cocaine hidden underneath a cabinet in a bedroom.

Further searches found more cocaine underneath a cabinet.

Officers arrested Brocklehurst and seized his phone.

When they checked his text messages, they made a link between Brocklehurst and accomplices McDonagh and Galloway.

Police built up a case against those two and raided their homes — in Tweedsdale Close and Shetland Way — in April.

They found a large amount of cash and seized the pair’s mobile phones.

Text messages linked them to each other and to Brocklehurst and showed clear signs of drug dealing.

One text message on McDonagh’s phone referred to ‘chunk’ — slang for large pieces of unbroken cocaine — coming in to his possession soon.

During the hearing, McDonagh was jailed for eight years and Galloway and Brocklehurst were jailed for six years each.

Afterwards, Detective Sergeant Colin Shackleton, of Bury Police, described it as a case of “serious organised crime.”

“Organised criminality causes misery for ordinary people going about their lawful business.

“It causes fear and intimidation.

“I would urge anyone who believes they have information about those involved in organised crime to contact police.

“As always, the information you supply will be dealt with privately and confidentially.”