A MAN from Bolton was part of an international gang which smuggled drugs with a street value of up to £200 million in containers labelled as spare parts, a court was told.

Paul Bell, aged 37, was alleged to be the "regional sales manager" for a drugs gang which ran its criminal enterprise like a legitimate business, with each member being appointed key roles.

When he was arrested, Bell claimed to have no fixed address but police knew he lived at Hardcastle Apartments, in Bradshaw Hall Drive, Bradshaw.

A search of the premises revealed £55,900 in cash stuffed in several shoe boxes.

Bell, along with seven co-accused, denied two charges of conspiracy to sell Class A drugs and conspiracy to supply Class B drugs.

Bolton Crown Court heard yesterday that the "company" dealt in Class A drugs such as cocaine and ecstasy, and Class B drugs including amphetamines and cannabis, brought to the UK from Belgium and Spain.

When police officers raided an industrial unit in Radcliffe they discovered drugs worth up to £4.1 million.

Police recovered eight kilos of cocaine, 315,371 ecstasy tablets, 45.5 kilos of amphetamine and 27 kilos of cannabis, plus a small amount of crack cocaine.

Detectives allege that, since February 2000, 49 packing cases containing huge quantities of drugs had been delivered to the unit at Beeley Industrial Estate, in Radcliffe, and other premises in Failsworth.

At the time of the raid, on April 25 last year, a further six packing cases, containing millions of pounds worth of drugs, were already en route from the continent.

The estimated wholesale value of the drugs supplied in the months prior to the raid was around £50 million.

These drugs, when sold on the streets of the North-west, could fetch anything between £120 to £200 million.

On the day of the raids, Bell was arrested at the Heywood home of Gerald McLeish, who was appointed the "managing director".

Police saw the Bolton man with a carrier bag under his jacket, which was later found to contain £19,000 in cash. McLeish had a further £10,685.

The well-organised operation used genuine companies who were unaware of what they were transporting.

A legitimate freight distribution storage and package company with offices in Europe and the UK was unwittingly used to transport drugs in sealed containers.

Philip Curran, prosecuting, said: "This company's business is drugs, hard drugs such as cocaine and ecstasy, and soft drugs in the form of amphetamine and cannabis.

"These men are in it for gain and the prospect of untold riches derived from other people's use and addiction to their merchandise."

The other defendants involved in the case are Gerald McLeish, aged 42, of Clifton Close, Heywood; Paul Earle, aged 31, of Bradway Road, Huyton, Merseyside; Ian Longden, aged 38, of Ridgeway Street, Ancoats, Manchester; Paul Dunn, aged 34, of Beech Avenue, Prescott, Merseyside; Christopher King, aged 38, of Walsingham Avenue, Middleton; Nigel Hughes, aged 33, of Cricket Close, Chapelfield, Coventry; Paul Wyatt, aged 38, of Mancroft Road, Caddington, Bedfordshire. All denied conspiracy to sell Class A drugs and conspiracy to sell Class B drugs.

Two men -- Christian Wolfendale and Simon Balshaw -- have already admitted their role in the offences and will be sentenced at the end of the trial, and another man, Stanley Bryson, who was additionally charged with money laundering, has since died.

The trial is expected to last for at least three months.

(Proceeding)