Second hand car dealer Raymond Casling was sentenced yesterday alongside four gang members for their roles in two separate drugs conspiracies.

DRUGS boss known as "Roy Cropper" has been jailed for ten-and-a-half years.

Second hand car dealer Raymond Casling was sentenced yesterday alongside four gang members for their roles in two separate drugs conspiracies.

Teesside Crown Court heard how Casling, 32, of Canterbury Road, Redcar, was the linchpin in two plots.

In the first, Reginald Breeze, 38, of Herschell Street, Redcar, together with 19-year-old Scott Lacy, of no fixed address, would store and supply fake ecstasy.

Breeze had 165 white tablets on him when he was stopped by police in Loftus in July 2009.

Officers found 2,550 more pills in the joiner's home.

The tablets, embossed with a bunny logo, looked like ecstasy but turned out to be what was then a legal high.

It has since been categorised as a Class C drug.

Marc Carlyon, 24, and Michael Lance, 25, were later arrested after police watched them sell cocaine to a man.

A search of their home in Brimham Court, Redcar, revealed a dealer's list, plus small bags of low-purity cocaine, scales and cutting agent.

The pair stored ten numbers on their phones for Casling all under the name of Roy Cropper - a character in ITV soap opera Coronation Street.

Christopher Attwooll said the main evidence against the men was a large number of text messages between Casling and the four others.

When police knocked down Casling's door on Canterbury Road, Redcar they found him ripping up pieces of paper.

The prosecution said this was a "tick list" of drug debtors, dealers and users.

All five men denied the drugs conspiracy but were convicted after a trial.

David Lamb, representing Casling, said his client was a family man with two children who had run several successful businesses.

Breeze's barrister, Rod Hunt, said his client had made full admissions when arrested, while Jonathan Walker, mitigating for Lacy, said his client had grown up since the incident.

Carlyon's barrister said his client had been "sucked in" to the conspiracy after developing a serious gambling habit.

Father-of-one Lance was a minor player, his lawyer said.

Judge Tony Briggs sentenced Breeze and Lacy to 18 months.

Carlyon was handed a three-and-a-half year term, while Lance was sentenced to two-and-a-half years.

Lacy is already serving a four-year sentence for heroin dealing in 2008.

Casling was jailed for three years in 2003 after admitting possessing cocaine with intent to supply.