Twenty-two Croatian drug smugglers were sentenced to jail Monday for their roles in a 10 million euro trafficking operation between Britain and the Netherlands, the Hina news agency reported.

A Zagreb court sentenced Ivan Varga, the ringleader, to eight years in prison. His two main accomplices were given jail terms of nine and seven years.

The 19 other accused, mainly managers of shipping companies or drivers, received prison sentences ranging from one to six years.

Police dismantled in 2006 the drug trafficking ring, which is believed to have smuggled almost three tonnes of drugs from the Netherlands to Britain between 2003 and 2005, mainly marijuana but also cocaine and heroin.

The drugs had an estimated street value in Britain of 7.8 million pounds (9.8 million euros), according to prosecutors.

The court ordered all assets bought with the profits from the drug smuggling operations to be seized, including a number of properties and a sum of about 2 million euros.