A gang member from Witham has been jailed for eight years for his involvement in a conspiracy to supply cocaine and the conversion of a shotgun.

Aaron Ellwood, 24, of Greenwell Road, Witham, was one of eight members of an “organised criminal network”, who were jailed for a total of 42 years on Tuesday at Basildon Crown Court.

Another man is due to be sentenced in September.

All nine men had previously admitted their involvement in conspiracy to supply cocaine and the conversion of a shotgun.

They were arrested and charged by detectives from the Trident and Area Crime Command of the Metropolitan Police following intelligence-led Operation Kelpie.

Ellwood was jailed for eight years after he admitted possessing a firearm with intent to cause to others unlawful violence, possession of a prohibited weapon and conspiracy to supply class A drugs, namely crack cocaine.

Turkish Ugar Kuckukiravul, 30, of Suffolk House Yard, Brentwood, and Amaan Rob, 25, of Berkeley Road, Manor Park, were both jailed for five years for possession of a firearm and a prohibited weapon.

Nikhal Shastri, 22, of Wakefield Gardens, Ilford, was jailed for 11 years for possession of a firearm, possession of a prohibited weapon and conspiracy to supply cocaine.

Lewis Marsh, 18, of Orchard Drive, Frinton-on-Sea, was sentenced to three years and three months for possession of a prohibited weapon and conspiracy to supply cocaine.

Jorden Hegg, 18, of Birch Close, Romford, was sentenced to three years and three months for conspiracy to supply cocaine.

Jake Turton, 18, of Peake Avenue, Kirby Cross, was handed a two-year suspended sentence for conspiract to supply cocaine.

Nigel Hammond, 29, of Ravenoak Way, Chigwell, was jailed for four years and six months for supplying cocaine. class A drugs namely crack cocaine.

Stephen Hirst, 44, of Vaughan Williams Way, Brentwood, will be sentenced in September.

The court heard that detectives executed a search warrant on September 19, 2014 at NUE Prestige Ltd in Suffolk House Yard, Ashwells Road, Brentwood.

At the business premises - purportedly being used by a car hire company - officers recovered the sawn stock of a shot gun along with a number of items for the shortening of a shotgun including oil, files, wire wool and rubber gloves.

Officers also recovered £2,600 in cash and two canisters of CS gas.

CCTV recovered during the investigation showed the conversion of the sawn-off shotgun at the premises in Suffolk House Yard.

The CCTV clearly showed Kucukiravul, Shastri, Ellwood, Rob and Marsh with the sawn-off shotgun earlier that day.

Kuckukiravul, who lived at the premises, was present at the time of the searches and was arrested.

During subsequent searches, officers recovered a loaded sawn-off single-barrelled shotgun and 19 shotgun cartridges hidden in the roof-space of an adjoining car port.

Quantities of class A drugs, cash, phones, electronic scales, drugs ledgers and packaging were recovered during the arrests.

Detective Inspector Steve Meechan, from the Metropolitan Police, Trident Gang Command, said: "These convictions are part of a complex ongoing operation by Trident officers - assisted by Essex Police - to target organised criminal networks that are using firearms to enforce their drug trafficking activity.

“We have a zero tolerance approach to firearm enabled criminality, gang crime and drug supply.

Trident Gang Crime Command will continue to work with our partners, to disrupt such criminality and aim to convict those who perpetrate it. The substantial custodial sentences handed down by the court today should act as a significant deterrent to those involved in these criminal gangs."