A DRUGS boss who went on the run for six years has been jailed for eleven-and-a-half years.

Arshid Khan, 36, who laundered the profits of drugs through Harle Syke Post Office, Burnley, and in luxury cars, was convicted of conspiracy to supply heroin and concealing the proceeds of drug trafficking.

Khan's partner in crime, Azizul Wahab was jailed for 12 years in 2002 for his part in the operation.

But Khan had been on the run from 1998 until he was arrested by the National Crime Squad in October 2004.

During Khan's trial Preston Crown Court heard that he and Wahab were in charge of the operation but ensured they had little or no direct dealing in the commercial sypply of drugs.

Khan, who is married with five children, of Colne Road, Burnley, was one of five men involved in an extensive drugs dealing operation in Burnley and Nelson which was smashed by police in 1998.

He had told the court that he had nothing to do with drugs and could not afford to drive BMWs or Porsches.

But Judge Edward Slinger told Khan he had been convicted on overwhelming evidence.

He told him: "Those who play for high stakes know that when they are caught, the punishment will be high."

Judge Slinger added that "in society as a whole and in the courts in particular we know of the dreadful effects of the drugs trade.

"We know that lives are ruined, families are ruined as young people in particular are trapped in the need for heroin and for other hard drugs.

"We know too that many crimes are committed by people desperate to get money to feed their addiction."

He said the drugs operation in the area had been "very significant".

He imposed the eleven-and-a-half years term for the drugs conspiracy, with six-and-a-half years, to run concurrently, for the money laundering.

Khan's counsel, Mr Peter Birkett QC, said that the prison sentence would be a substantial additional penalty for the defendant and his family.

Mr Birkett submitted that there was no evidence to conclude the defendant was on the same level in the conspiracy as Wahab.

He added: "We submit there was no evidence that he was the source of the drugs, nor that he was close to the importation. It may be he was in the nature of an intermediary."