Police were today toasting a major victory in their war against Drugs after breaking up a gang which flooded an estate with heroin.

The seven gang members, who carried out hundreds of deals every week from Buttershaw council flats, were today beginning jail sentences totalling more than 33 years.

Drugs squad officers closed in after learning they were to set up shop in a first floor flat in Buttershaw Drive.

Prosecutor Phillip Standfast told Bradford Crown Court how officers launched Operation Mostyn, secretly bugging the property with video and audio devices and recording its actions over a nine--day period. During that time, they witnessed 300 heroin and crack cocaine deals before the gang discovered the surveillance camera and smashed it with an axe.

Yesterday, 32-year-old Mark Gleave, pictured, of Wedgemoor Close, Wyke, was jailed for seven-and-a-half years after he admitted conspiracy to supply the two Class A drugs.

Passing sentence Judge Angela Finnerty said although the operation's overall boss was not in the dock, Gleave had been second-in-command, managing the business for him.

She told him: "You were present at the flat every single day. You were the main dealer. You organised and collected fresh supplies when stocks ran low. You tested, weighed, cut and packaged the drugs which were then brought to the property for supply by you."

She said Gleave was paid directly by the boss and even boasted about holding back profits from him.

Peter Inseal, 36, of Prospect Street, Bradford, the gang's next-in-command, was jailed for six-and-a-half years after admitting two charges of conspiring to supply heroin and crack cocaine. "You were the official doorman charged with preserving the security of the premises,'' Judge Finnerty told him. "You were regarded as the highest paid doorman within the drug-dealing culture in this city.''

Paul Keenan, 25, also of Wedgemoor Close, Wyke, has applied for tenancy of the flat and he was later brought in a door which was to reinforce security. He pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charges and was jailed for six years.

Three other addicts who acted as occasional doormen were also jailed.

Michael Gill, 21, of Smith Avenue, Odsal, received three years and nine months after admitting being concerned in the supply of drugs and unrelated burglary matters.

Michael Milburn, 36, of Welburn Mount, Buttershaw, and Wayne Baxendale, 29, of Rosebank, Queensbury, were each jailed for three years after admitting being concerned in the supply of drugs.

The seventh defendant Michaela Harrison, 20, of Enfield Parade, Wibsey, was sent to a young offenders institution for three years and nine months after she admitted a host of offences committed between October 1999 and February 2000.

As well as offering to supply heroin and crack cocaine to an undercover police officer, she also admitted robbing a 16-year-old girl and a string of deception offences in which she obtained around £150 of 'donations' for a bogus school charity.

Judge Finnerty ommended the police team for its 'skilful and professional investigation'.