AN ORGANISED crime gang is facing lengthy jail sentences for its part in a drugs conspiracy with an estimated street value of £6m.

Fatos Hamzaraj, Guglielmo Rossi, Paul Boulton, Paul Bunney, Jack Jones, Michael Crossley and Christopher Hemming all appeared at Bristol Crown Court yesterday for sentencing but were made to wait another night to find out their fate following the all-day hearing.

The court heard how the seven, along with four other men already jailed, had been involved in a coordinated cocaine distribution network with links to Albania through its ringleader Hamzaraj, 31, of Hatherley Court, Swindon.

Police used surveillance and several raids to bring down the gang, who were operating between January and October 2011 and had been seen to import large quantities of cocaine and the cutting agent benzocaine into the UK.

Officers seized a co-conspirator’s Volkswagen Bora and found traces of cocaine in a hollowed-out section behind the glove compartment, while the police also raided addresses in Newburn Crescent, Enterprise House, Angelo’s nightclub and Devizes Road.

Charles Thomas, prosecuting, said the total estimated worth of the outfit’s activities could have amounted to £6m in street deals.

He also said that while several of the defendants played somewhat minor roles, Hamzaraj played the most significant role and was able to keep the supply lines open even after two targeted raids by police, which saw his lieutenants arrested and production equipment seized.

Nightclub manager Rossi, 28, of Devizes Road, was a cocaine addict who was caught in the act of cutting the drug along with Hamzaraj.

Rossi also pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm without a certificate after a Russian 9mm semi-automatic handgun was found at his home in October 2011.

Boulton, 30, of Brunel Crescent, was a working electrician who became involved through his cocaine addiction, while Crossley, 29, of Woodcutter Mews, and Jones, 21, of Town End Road, Faringdon, had minor roles which included making deliveries, purchasing equipment and facilitating the production site.

Bunney, 33, of Elm Close, Lyneham, travelled to London to collect a shipment of benzocaine and cocaine.

Hemming, 34, of Pendlebury Court, was convicted for allowing his home to be used by a co-conspirator for the production of the drug.

Judge Michael Roach retired to consider his judgments and will return to deliver them this morning.