AN Alcester man who acted as a sub-dealer for a Birmingham based drug gang has been jailed.

Andrea Petropolous, aged 22, of Church Street in Alcester, was handed five year and eight month sentence at Birmingham Crown Court on Wednesday, September 7.

Drug dealers Aaron Josephs and Julian Barnes, who supplied heroin and cocaine to the streets of Stratford-upon-Avon, made a fortune peddling the Class A drugs by using middleman George Stephens.

Petropolous worked for Stephens in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Josephs and Barnes' empire came crashing down on March 16 this year, when armed police stopped the pair in Barnes’ Audi RS Q3 on Bishopton Lane in Stratford-upon-Avon - just as they were about to meet with Stephens.

The weight of the evidence was so strong that all three men admitted conspiracy to supply class A drugs at Birmingham Crown Court.

On Wednesday, September 7, a judge jailed both Barnes and Josephs for nine years.

George Stephens, of Holly Walk, Stratford-upon-Avon, was handed a five year term for the conspiracy as well as an additional five years to run consecutively for possession of a firearm, relating to a stun gun officers recovered during the investigation.

DC Tom Frenchum, from West Midlands Police Force CID, said: "These sentences send a strong message to other dealers who damage our communities with the drugs they sell, that they face a long stretch in prison when we catch up with them.

"I’m confident the streets of the West Midlands and Warwickshire are much safer with this supply network dismantled, but it doesn’t stop here. We’ve now frozen their assets and are working hard to recoup the cash they made from their illegal activities.

"I want to thank Warwickshire Police for working so closely with us throughout this case and most importantly to the public who help by providing us with all the crucial information we need to launch investigations like this in the first place."