A Wakefield drug dealer known to police was caught out again after helping to import millions of pounds worth of ketamine encased in expanding foam.

Joel Freeman was part of an operation to import the drug and oversee its delivery to a storage unit in Wakefield.

The 45-year-old was jailed at Leeds Crown Court having previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to fraudulently evade a prohibition on the importation of a Class B drug.

He appeared in court over a video link from HMP Leeds where he was being held on remand.

The court heard that the storage unit on Thornes Lane Wharf, Wakefield, had been hired using a name taken from a stolen identity in the Wakefield area.

The drugs were flown into and intercepted at Birmingham Airport on August 6 this year.

In total, there was 125 kgs found in five boxes, secreted inside expanding foam, and bound for the storage unit in West Yorkshire.

It is estimated that it was worth up to £350,000 wholesale, or more than £2 million if broken down into individual street deals.

Investigators found that Freeman, of Woodlands Village, Wakefield, was due to take delivery at the storage unit, supported by messages later found on his phone.

Prosecutor Andrea Parnham said Freeman has seven previous convictions for 19 offences, many for drug dealing for which he has been jailed.

Mitigating, Katherine Robinson conceded that while the overall conspiracy showed sophistication, Freeman had not, using a regular phone from which he had not deleted the incriminating messages.

She said his involvement was to take delivery of the drugs and therefore take all of the risks.

She said he was clearly directed by others and was desperate for work and money, even asking if they had any other jobs for him.

Judge Kate Rayfield accepted that Freeman was being paid a flat fee of £2,000 or £3,000, but told him: “There must be a deterrent sentence for anyone involved in the commercial importation of drugs.”

She gave him a six-year jail sentence.