FOUR drug pushers who dealt thousands of pounds worth of cocaine and heroin to undercover police officers have been jailed for a total of 13 years.

The two sets of brothers appeared at Bolton Crown Court yesterday after they were arrested in April this year during a major crackdown on the supply of class A drugs in Bolton.

Jagdeep Halai aged 27, of Jasmine Court, Lever Edge; Anil Halai, aged 24, of Newport Road, Great Lever; and Roshan Patel, aged 25, of Pedder Street, Brownlow Fold, all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine.

Manesh Patel, aged 29, of Victoria Fold, Brownlow Fold, also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply heroin.

Jaime Hamilton, prosecuting, said police started the undercover operation in January, 2007, when they met Jagdeep Halai in a Bolton nightclub.

Over the next few months they built up a rapport and, in April, asked if he could get some cocaine for them as they were going to a party.

On April 11, they met in a street in Great Lever where he handed them three bags of cocaine for £120, saying he could get them up to 40 bags.

Jagdeep Halai then arranged for the officers to meet his brother, Anil, on April 19 at Morrisons in Chorley Old Road, where he sold them two bags of cocaine for £80 and said he would be prepared to deal with the undercover cops.

The officers tried to contact Anil Halai on April 25 but he was away and got Roshan Patel to meet the men at Morrisons, where he sold them two bags of cocaine for £80.

Roshan Patel told the officers that he was dealing on behalf of his brother, Manesh, and gave them his mobile phone number.

They established contact with Manesh Patel and, on April 27, he met the officers in a BMW X5 car and sold them four bags of cocaine for £140.

They met again on May 2 and he sold them cocaine for £280 and the officers asked him if he could get them some heroin.

Mr Hamilton said: “Manesh Patel said he was about to receive a large quantity of heroin and that he was significantly involved in the supply of drugs in the Bolton area.”

The officers met Manesh Patel again at Morrisons on May 14, where he handed them a sample of heroin and said he could get them a kilo for £16,000.

They then met on May 16 where Manesh Patel sold them a quarter of a kilo for £4,260. The deal was repeated on May 18. In June, Manesh Patel did two further cocaine deals with the officers worth more than £5,000.

Manesh Patel was sentenced to seven years, Jagdeep Halai three years, and both Roshan Patel and Anil Halai were sentenced to 18 months in prison.