A PRESTWICH woman is among seven criminals who have been jailed as part of a huge probe into internet drugs.

Netta Hymanson, aged 64, of Circular Road, Prestwich, was convicted of conspiracy to supply class B drugs at a trial in November 2014 and was today jailed at Bolton Crown Court for four years.

Police discovered that Hymanson and six others sold about £4 million of drugs online.

Their long-running investigation found the organised crime group involved had international reach and sold drugs across the globe.

In the summer of 2012 Jersey and the Channel Islands started to see a sharp rise in the amount of drugs purporting to be legal highs coming onto the islands via postal deliveries.

Police and customs began intercepting the postal deliveries and established they had been bought on a website called Wide Mouth Frogs, with most of the packages having been posted from the Greater Manchester area.

The website offered 35 products for sale, all of which purported to be legal and offered enhanced stimulants.

Officers purchased all of these products advertised for sale in order to establish their legal classification, of the items purchased 77 per cent contained illegal drugs.

A surveillance operation captured gang members leaving the post office and led officers to the hub of the drug operation in Farnworth.

Officers swooped in and found a complex set up including the gangs own drug store.

The gang members were arrested in May 2013.

Hymanson, who told the court she had previously been a designer for Karen Millen, played a lead role in the trafficking of drugs.

One of the website’s customers, Grant Wooldridge, died in July 20122 after taking drugs purchased from the website.

Detective Superintendent Jason Hudson, head of operations for Titan, The North West Regional Organised Crime Unit, said: "We know that drugs purchased from the Wide Mouth Frogs website have contributed to the death of one man and hospitalised a number of others.

“This case once again highlights just what a lottery it is for your health if you choose to take drugs such as these."