A customs officer who lived a life of luxury helping smuggle millions of pounds of cocaine into Britain has been jailed for 15 years.

Grandfather Richard Riley, 53, an "absolutely central figure" in the extensive operation, is thought to have been behind a string of lucrative drug runs.

He not only "systematically betrayed" his bosses to feed his gang "highly confidential information" but helped arrange the Caribbean importations and waved couriers through the "nothing to declare" channel without checking their bags.

His "safety guarantee" resulted in a "wholesale operation" that earned him massive pay-offs, which his social worker wife, Marjorie, 51, then helped launder.

The cash funded a shopping list that included a top of the range BMW and a move to a plush new home packed with expensive furniture.

The couple also enjoyed five star holidays in Egypt and Barbados, each costing £12,000, and splashed out a further £40,000 for a plot of land on the island on which they hoped to build a large mansion.

London's Southwark Crown Court was told some of his ill-gotten gains also went on feeding his "extensive" gambling habit.

When his home was searched a cardboard tube was found crammed with £15,000 in £10 and £20 notes.

A lengthy surveillance operation was launched during which customs officers bugged Riley's car and home and shadowed his every move.

The scam was finally smashed when pregnant courier Kelly Little, 24, and partner in crime Stephen Abrahamson, 29, were caught at Gatwick Airport with luggage bulging with 31kg of cocaine worth £2.4 million.

A customs video showed them laughing at their apparent success as they strolled from the concourse. Seconds later, they were arrested.

In the dock with the Rileys, of Hunters Meadow, Dulwich, south-east London, were Abrahamson and Little, both from Ponders End, Enfield, Middlesex; 42-year-old Harline Young, of Hazelmere Road, Northolt, west London; Steven Dixon, 35, of Deacon Road, Dollis Hill, north-west London, and Peter Crosdale, 46, of Milling Road, Edgware, north London.

They variously admitted three counts of conspiracy to smuggle cocaine between January 1 and July 2, 2004, one charge of simple smuggling and two of money laundering.

Oliver Sells QC, prosecuting, said the gang's ability to smuggle "very substantial quantities" of cocaine into Britain was all down to Riley.

He said: "Riley systematically abused his authority to assist others bringing cocaine into the country, divulging highly confidential information about customs' intelligence gathering so as to minimise the risk that others would be detected and stopped.

"His betrayal was paid for by those responsible for the onward sale of the cocaine."

The barrister said altogether £125,000 was paid into the Rileys' bank accounts between January and June last year, the clearest possible signal that the customs officer was "absolutely central to the success of this conspiracy".

By providing "complete protection" to the smugglers at the "critical moments of importation", multi-million pound, high purity consignments could be smuggled in.

Among other things, investigators discovered the gang communicated in code to avoid suspicion. The word "music" referred to drugs, while "musicians" meant couriers.

At one point the gang had "at least" four smuggling teams in the Caribbean. One of them included a six-year-old boy taken along to provide an extra veneer of innocence.

Passing sentence, Judge Anthony Pitts said the smuggling of hard drugs like cocaine brought nothing but "misery, degradation, despair, loss of lives and more crime".

Turning to Riley's devout churchgoing wife, the judge said it was a "tragedy" to see someone of her "exemplary character" convicted and sentenced her to 180 hours of community service.

Dealing with the others, the judge told Crosdale that his "senior role" in recruiting and organising couriers and arranging the distribution of the cocaine, meant he, too, would have to go to prison for 15 years.

Estate agent Young, who also enjoyed a "managerial capacity" received eleven-and-a-half, while Dixon got ten-and-a-half years.

The two couriers, Abrahamson and Little, received nine-and-a-half and seven-and-a-half years respectively Steve Coates, head of the HM Customs criminal investigation unit in London said: "We take it extremely seriously a customs officer abused his position to help bring cocaine into the country.

"These lengthy jail sentences should serve as a deterrent to anyone considering involvement in such crimes."