Dozens of illegal immigrants were smuggled into Britain by two ex-soldiers who acted as ferrymen for notorious "snakehead" gangsters.

Allan Gallop, 49, of Cripps Avenue, Peacehaven, and Marcus Wakelin, 42, of Grassington Road, Eastbourne, were today starting jail terms of four years and three years for running an "insidious" cross-Channel human trafficking operation.

Police video footage showed Gallop and Wakelin dropping boat-loads of Chinese nationals on to Newhaven beach.

The smugglers used inflatable speedboats to bring dozens of illegal immigrants across the Channel under cover of darkness.

Each of the immigrants had paid up to £7,000 to underworld snakehead criminal gangs before being collected by the pair near Calais and making the treacherous journey through busy shipping lanes.

Both men used their military backgrounds to establish the illicit operation transporting desperate immigrants to a new life - and earn themselves thousands of pounds.

At Maidstone Crown Court, Gallop admitted two counts of facilitating illegal entry into the UK. He made the first trip alone in the early hours of April 1 last year, transporting seven people.

He then enlisted Wakelin to take charge of a second boat for a smuggling run on May 30, when they brought in 13 more immigrants.

Wearing a tie and blazer with military insignia, former Grenadier Guardsman Gallop stood with head bowed as Judge Warwick McKinnon said he would serve four years.

He was sentenced to two years on the first count, and four on the second, to run concurrently.

Wakelin had pleaded guilty to a single charge of facilitating illegal entry and was jailed for three years.

Judge McKinnon said they had both become involved in "an insidious trade in human trafficking done for profit".

He added: "This was very dangerous work, crossing busy shipping lanes at night.

"Each of you was an integral part of what was a highly-sophisticated and organised enterprise, even though you, Wakelin, did come into the picture in relation to one trip only."

The court heard that Gallop, a divorced father-of-two, was approached by an Albanian man in February last year to act as a "ferryman" for illegal immigrants.

He had been trained to steer military-style rigid inflatable boats while serving with the Army in the Seventies and owned one called Midnight Dancer.

Gallop was told where to collect the immigrants by a Paris-based Chinese woman who acted as a translator, the court was told.

Tony Prosser, prosecuting, said the first trip had taken place in the early hours of April 1 and had been tracked by a police aerial surveillance unit.

Almost two months later, Gallop set out with Wakelin, whom he knew from Army days, in a second boat to make another illicit run.

Mr Prosser said: "The role of these defendants was to act as ferrymen.

"The role demanded a great deal of expertise and they were experienced boatmen."

The court heard both men had been motivated by money, with Gallop receiving up to £20,000 in total and Wakelin up to £9,000.

Kent Police have since forfeited both of Gallop's boats and equipment plus his car and the cash he was caught with on the night of his arrest, amounting to 14,400 euros and £165.

Further confiscation orders are being sought. Police said people- smuggling is a criminal lifestyle offence, empowering police to review someone's financial status for the previous six years and compel them to account for their money and purchases or face confiscation.

All the immigrants were detained by a team of officers from Kent Police, Sussex Police and Customs, who had been observing the smuggling operation throughout.

During the investigation, detectives conducted a re-enactment of the journey from Newhaven Harbour, where the boats were kept.

Officers travelled to France, then to the Kent coast and back to Newhaven to prove the boats were capable of the gruelling 132-mile trip, which took more than eight hours.

The illegal immigrants included both men and women from China.

On top of the money paid to the snakeheads, each immigrant paid up to 1,500 euros for a space on the boats to travel from France to the UK last year.

Mr Prosser said one of the Chinese nationals had told police how his transport had been arranged from China. He had paid £4,600 to the snakehead gang in France to be transported to Britain by motorboat.

The man said he had been kept at a building in Paris, before being taken to the pick-up point near Calais and handing over at least £2,000 more in cash, the court heard.

Mr Prosser said: "They were told to strip off naked and told to wade out to the boat. Once on the boat they dressed again."

Judge McKinnon said Gallop and Wakelin had shown little concern for the immigrants' safety.

He said: "Whatever your expertise, without lights or radar reflectors it posed a serious risk to everybody.

"You foresaw these risks, equipping yourselves with life jackets and helmets but callously left the immigrants to take their chances."

Paul Rogers, defending Gallop, said he had destroyed his family relationships and was on suicide watch after trying to kill himself in prison.