Two men behind a multi-million pound international drug trafficking ring have been jailed for a total of 26 years.

Scott Dawson, 27, and David Hamberger, 56, used their jobs at a legitimate export firm in Crawley to send consignments of ecstasy and amphetamines to Australia.

A judge at Hove Crown Court heard yesterday it was the first case in Britain where dealers have been jailed for exporting rather than importing drugs.

Dawson, from Carlton Avenue, Bognor, was found guilty of conspiring to supply 35,000 ecstasy tablets and 18kg of amphetamine sulphate, known as speed. He was jailed for 12 years.

Hamberger, from Barking, Essex, was given a 14-year sentence for the same charges.

The court heard how Dawson worked at a marine engineering company and slipped the sacks of drugs into marketing material he sent out.

Officers from the National Crime Squad were alerted to the pair's activities and began to untangle the operation.

Detective Chief Inspector David Cator, said: "We knew that while sending marketing material for the firm, Dawson slipped in consignments of drugs.

Officers from the National Crime Squad were able to gather evidence that he was working with Hamberger to export large quantities of drugs.

"We are also aware the street value in Australia would have been £1 million, double that of the UK. It was very unusual to uncover a plot to export drugs."