A GANG of 15, including three men from East Lancashire, have been jailed for a huge drugs and money laundering ring.

Kingpin Richard Wynn, 35, from Worsthorne, Burnley, was sentenced to more than 10 years at Preston Crown Court for leading a £500,000 drugs cartel stretching across several counties.

Under an operation codenamed Dunlin, police made a series of co-ordinated swoops in Inchfield and Ravenoak Lane, Worsthorne, Taylor Street in Rawtenstall, a property in Burnley as well as buildings in Hebden Bridge, Westhoughton and Leigh.

Drugs including cocaine, cannabis and diazepam, with an estimated street value of more than £500,000, as well as more than £90,000 in cash, were seized as part of the investigation.

Jail sentences totalling more than 50 years were imposed on other gang members, including Wynn’s 55-year-old father Shaun, of Inchfield, Worsthorne, who admitted assisting an offender.

Another 34-year-old East Lancashire man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was jailed for 40 months after confessing to conspiracy to supply cannabis.

Andrew Donachie, 51, from Taylor Street, Rawtenstall, who pleaded guilty to the cannabis conspiracy charge and money launder, will be sentenced at a later date.

Det Insp Simon Brooksbank, of Lancashire Police’s serious and organised crime unit, who led the investigation said: “I am pleased with the sentences handed down by the judge today which reflect the very serious nature of these offences.

“Operation Dunlin has been a protracted enquiry which has required a lot of hard work and dedication from the investigation team as well as the Crown Prosecution Service.

“The people in this organised crime group were working together to supply drugs to communities, not only in Lancashire, but the whole of the north west.

“This type of crime not only ruins lives and instils fear in our communities, but is a driving force for other crime. Now that this group has been taken off our streets we can firmly say they are a much safer place.

“Today’s result should send a clear message to those who engage in organised crime: we know who you are and you will be caught and punished and potentially end up spending a very long time behind bars.”

Other defendants, from Leigh, Leyland, Lancaster, Lytham, Hebden Bridge, Salford, London, Preston and Bolton, received jail terms ranging from 14 months to eight years and two months from various drugs, money laundering and perverting the course of justice offences.

Undercover observations were kept on Wynn’s activities in Worsthorne, including monitoring conversations within his black BMW M3.

Police discovered Wynn had several mobile phones, which were used to keep in touch with his various underworld contacts.

Several conversations revolving around drugs and their distribution formed the basis of the prosecution, police have confirmed.

Police also kept watch while several drug deals took places across Lancashire, Greater Manchester and elsewhere.