The SAS pilot and his drug accomplices

Belgian former SAS pilot Rudi Sels 

Rudi Sels, 65, deliberately piloted a light aircraft from Belgium with the aim of dropping Class A drugs stuffed into barrels wrapped in black duct tape.

He is a Belgian former SAS pilot.  He threw the barrels loaded with £2.5million worth of cocaine over a Kent airfield.

Waiting on the ground were his accomplices: Jonathan Hart, 61, Michael Mealing, 42, and Andrew Barrett, 42, who used a map to plan landing and drop-off sites for the packages.

But the gang were being watched by detectives from the National Crime Agency.

Hart, Barrett and Mealing admitted their parts in the operation and were jailed for a total of 38 years.

The packets of cocaine had a purity of between 62 and 84 per cent, and Sels was to be paid 500 euros per kilo - which would have earned him about 16,000 euros or £14,500.

He was arrested on October 20 this year at his home in Balen, near Antwerp in Belgium and extradited to the UK on October 31.

At the Old Bailey today Sels admitted conspiracy to import Class A drugs, and was jailed for 14 years.

Judge Mark Dennis told Sels: 'You plainly played a central role in the importation of 31 kilos of cocaine.

The Class A drugs had been stuffed into drums wrapped in black duct tape before being dropped from the plane

'This was a very sophisticated importation, carried out with obviously considerable planning and care, and also carried out swiftly and very efficiently from the point of view of the drug traffickers.

'This would have been a wholly successful importation releasing in truth far more than 31kg of powder, given the purity and the street level cutting that takes place.

'And doing so for considerable gain for the drug traffickers involved. The estimated street value is somewhere around £2.5million.'

The judge added: 'There was an expectation of substantial financial gain for you, as would be on the face of it inevitable given the nature of your contribution to this importation.

'You should be regarded as having a leading role.

'This was a sophisticated, carefully planned importation on a commercial scale.'

Sels piloted a light aircraft from Belgium before dropping the Class A drugs over Kent