Five members of a drugs gang busted by customs officers at Gatwick have been put behind bars.

The four men and a woman were jailed for a total of 58 years for attempting to smuggle 15kg of cocaine, with a street value of nearly £900,000, into the UK.

Three couriers admitted smuggling the class A drug on board a Virgin Atlantic flight from Antigua.

A further two men admitted assisting with the smuggling attempt on August 8 last year.

Customs and excise officers searched Barrington Smith, Fernando Rodriguez and Maria Duque and found cocaine strapped to their bodies .

Sehon Logan and Errol Deer were later arrested on a public concourse at Gatwick, where they were waiting for the couriers.

More cocaine was later found hidden behind a panel in the plane's toilets.

Senior customs investigating officer Duncan Honeyman said: "We're very pleased with the sentences imposed. It sends a strong message that trying to make money through drug smuggling is not an easy option.

"This is another example of our efforts to reduce the amount of cocaine entering the UK from the Caribbean area."

The five were sentenced at Croydon Crown Court yesterday.

Rodriguez, 33, from Lambeth, south London, was jailed for 12 years.

Smith, 39, from Normanton, Derby, was jailed for 10 years.

Duque, 39, from Clapham, south London, was jailed for eight years.

Deer, 27, of no fixed address, and Logan, 27, from Catford, were jailed for 14 years.