ON the face of it Michael Watts was a respectable man.

He was involved in a charity for veterans and his appearance was that of a successful businessman.

He owned a top-of-the-range Porsche and the latest Range Rover, wore the finest Rolex watches, invested in a housing development and went on frequent holidays abroad.

But behind the facade, the Jarrow father’s real stock-in-trade was the importation of hard drugs and his legacy, the misery it brought to the streets of the region.

The full extent of his sophisticated operation has now been laid bare with his conviction as head of a gang which had links to organised crime groups in the east Midlands and Europe.

His right-hand man was Neal Hoban, of Stockton, who arranged the logistics of their criminal enterprise, supported by Kevin Murray and David Faulkner – the entrepreneur of Gold for Cash fame.

Watts, who travelled extensively throughout the UK and abroad to set up his deals, kept his distance from the “dirty work”.

Hoban, Faulkner and Murray directed the importation with storage facilities in Northampton, Nottingham and North Yorkshire.

David Drew instructed drugs couriers Michael Li and Darren Herbert, who travelled to Maastricht in Holland with old furniture.

The drugs were concealed in cheap furniture with legitimate companies unwittingly bringing them back. Police are aware of at least 35 trips.

The drugs were stored in Northampton and then transported to a storage facility in Nottingham where it is believed they were divided up, with some kept in the Nottingham area for onward supply.

Members of the group, such as Aaron Nesbitt and Kirk Anderson, travelled to store their share in a unit in North Yorkshire.

Andrew Yates and Abdur Khan were used as couriers to transport money collected and deposit it at locations across the country.

The conspiracy started to unravel on September 27, 2012, when Watts was captured on CCTV putting £320,000 into a Khan's car at the Eco Centre in Jarrow - a car that was stopped by police.

On November 15 Yates was found with £65,000 in cash.

The big break came on January 9, 2013, when police found 30kg of heroin and 408 kg of amphetamine with a street value of £55m in a lock-up on the Alanbrooke Industrial Park, Topcliffe, near Thirsk in North Yorkshire.

In May last year police raided Watts' mother’s home and found his “mobile office” in a briefcase. It contained mobile phones and - most incriminating - diaries recording all his transactions.

In one year alone they totalled £7m.

Text messages in code included conversations such as “ can you get them sweets placed in the shop m8 with u r pals as the big fella is on my case now” and “I forgot to say the squirrel contacted about sending me the horse food”.

Police say the sentencing of Watts - who severed his links with Veterans' Retreat, a legitimate charity, before his arrest - and the rest of the gang is not the end of the matter.

Serious crime prevention orders were granted against Watts, Murray and Hoban, allowing the monitoring of their telephones, travel and finances to disrupt any future criminality once released from custody.

Regional Asset Recovery Team (RART) will move to recover their criminal gains, including homes, cars and money.

Watts severed his links with Veterans' Retreat - which runs as a legitimate charity - before his arrest.