'King Coke' and gang get 128 years in prison

Lincoln White didn't look like one of Britain's biggest crack cocaine barons. He lived in a modest, rented flat in east Dulwich, south London, and drove a Peugeot 205.

But the 39-year-old was sentenced to 25 years in prison at Kingston Crown Court, south-west London yesterday for running what police described as one of the biggest crack cocaine dealing operations uncovered in Britain.

The court had heard that White, who was known as King Coke, ran a network of couriers and dealers linking Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Mexico, the Antilles and Grenada to the UK. Police estimated the operation may have pocketed as much as £170m between September 1999 and March 2003. White owned two mansions in Jamaica, together worth more than £1.5m.

Ten people, including White, were arrested in March last year in raids across the UK. Crack with a street value of £1m was seized from a flat in Clapham, south London, where gang members processed the class-A drug.

White, who was convicted earlier this month of conspiracy to import and distribute the drug, was sentenced with nine members of his gang.They were jailed for a total of 128 years.