SMUGGLERS who hid half a million pounds worth of Class A and B drugs in the shafts of golf clubs, have been jailed.

Gray Elcombe and Glen Henderson, both 40 and of Greenway Forstal, Hollingbourne appeared at Maidstone Crown Court on Friday, March 5

Both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply 28kg amphetamine sulphate and 3.12kg of cocaine.

Elcombe was sentenced to four years and four months and Henderson was sentenced to four years imprisonment.

In September 2009 Kent Police's Serious and Organised Crime Group were told by the UK Boarder Agency of a number of sets of golf clubs that had been imported into the UK that were suspected of housing cocaine in their shafts.

The investigation found the golf clubs filled with drugs were destined for a property in Farleigh Hill, Tovil, Maidstone.

Two months later, police searched a house and discovered the golf clubs had been delivered and taken to the loft.

Officers found the loft had been converted into a drugs production factory where amphetamine sulphate, commonly known as speed, was being produced and other drugs prepared for dealers.

Further sets of golf clubs, that were believed to have been imported into the UK in June 2009, were found in the loft.

Police also discovered other cutting chemicals used to mix with the drugs to increase its value on the open market .

A kilo of amphetamine was found in a vehicle used by Elcombe and Henderson, ready to be taken to a customer.

There was also more than one-and-a-half kilos of strong cannabis, known as skunk, in Henderson's bedroom, which formed part of the Class B, conspiracy to supply drugs charge.

In Elcombe's bedroom officers found, locked in a bedside cabinet, a large amount of cash.

Henderson admitted his part in the organised set up of drug supply and said he was working for Elcombe who was the person organising the supply.

Detective Sergeant Paul Irwin said: "Both defendants had been determined in obtaining the cocaine hidden in the golf clubs that would have netted them considerable profit."