TWO men who flooded the region with millions of pounds worth of hard drugs have been jailed for nearly 30 years.

Nathan Loftus, 38, and Sean Doyle, 30, were arrested after encrypted phone chats were decoded.

Loftus, 38, of Wilton Drive, Bury, and Doyle, 30, from Blackley, were jailed for combined terms of 29 years after pleading guilty to various crimes, including drug offences at Manchester Crown Court.

They imported and distributed more than £6m worth of illegal drugs before being caught as part of a 16-month long police probe.

Det Con Chris Edwards of the police's Challenger Team, said: “These two men, and particularly Loftus, were importing and distributing thousands of pounds worth of Class A drugs across Greater Manchester.

"I have no doubt that by removing these two men from our streets we have been able to remove and disrupt a significant amount of Class A drugs from our communities.

“The sentence handed to Loftus is a huge success for GMP and a testament to the painstaking work our team of detectives have put in to this case and investigation.

“Drugs can have a devastating impact on both individuals and communities and GMP will always pursue and bring those who feel they can cause such destruction to justice.”

Detectives found, after decoding Encrochat messages, they had been in touch with criminals across Europe.

Loftus is said to have purchased and imported 20 kilos of cocaine and 40 kilos of heroin, with an estimated combined street value of £6m.

He regularly used Encrochat to arrange for multi-kilo drug importations to be brought into the UK from Holland before arranging for the drugs to be dished out to street level drug dealers across Greater Manchester.

Detectives say in an attempt to avoid detection, Doyle stashed cash in a bag for life and threw this out of his bathroom window onto the roof. But this was quickly recovered by officers and amounted to £348,000.

Loftus was jailed for 22 years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to import heroin and cocaine, possession of a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life and money laundering.

Doyle was jailed for seven years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine and heroin, possession of criminal property and money laundering.