A COUPLE from Kingstanding who imported cocaine from South America and supplied dealers and users on the streets of Birmingham have been jailed for more than 25 years.

A COUPLE from Kingstanding who imported cocaine from South America and supplied dealers and users on the streets of Birmingham have been jailed for more than 25 years.: "COUPLE from Kingstanding who imported cocaine from South America and supplied dealers and users on the streets of Birmingham have been jailed for more than 25 years.

Ray and Michaela Russell of Brookvale Park Road, Wyrley Birch, were sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court for their part in a drugs network which put Class A drugs including heroin in the hands of dealers, particularly in Erdington and Stockland Green, but stretching as far as Moseley and Walsall.

Officers from Sutton Coldfield police station's local priority team raided the couple's home following a tip-off from concerned members of the public and, after a search under the Misuse of Drugs Act, found crack cocaine, heroin and cannabis with a street value of more than half-a-million pounds. Along with the illicit haul, officers also found a large amount of cash, mobile phones and drugs paraphernalia in the house and garden shed.

Border Agency officers at Coventry Airport also intercepted a box from Panama in South America addressed to the Russells' home which contained handbags and hairspray, five of which contained a total of a kilo of 94 per cent pure cocaine."