DETECTIVES are delighted that an investigation into a father-of-four caught with 100,000 ecstasy tablets with a street value of £1.5 million, has landed him a ten-year jail term.

Roy Dutton, 44, of Bericote Croft, Acocks Green, Birmingham, was jailed at Aylesbury Crown Court on Friday after being found guilty of possessing the class A controlled drug with intent to supply, following an investigation by Thames Valley Police.

DC Andrew Mottau, officer in the case, said after the hearing: "I am delighted with the verdict.

"I echo the judge's views that anyone involved in the large scale distribution of ecstasy, must understand they will face a substantial term of imprisonment if caught."

Unemployed Dutton, who pleaded not guilty to the charges, was the subject of a joint investigation by Thames Valley Police and the National Crimes Squad which culminated in him being stopped in a Ford Mondeo on the M40 at Stokenchurch in May last year.

The court heard that officers found a holdall stuffed with 20 plastic bags each containing 5,000 ecstasy tablets. The drugs were believed to have been smuggled into Heathrow Airport and targeted for dealers in the Midlands.

Robert Spencer-Bernard, prosecuting, said Dutton collected the ecstasy from "a Dutch man" in a car park near Heathrow Airport where the hand-over was captured on closed-circuit TV.

The court heard that two other men were arrested in connection with the operation but no further action was being taken against them after Dutton's conviction.