THREE men who were caught with cannabis worth £1.2M have been jailed for a total of 15 years.

Naeem Asghar, 38, of Motherwell, Anthony Kenyon, 37, and Phillip Rannard, both of Wigan were sentenced at the High Court on Glasgow after being caught with the haul of 242 kilos of the drug.  

The gang were snared after the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA) began monitoring them during a probe into criminals operating in the west of Scotland.  

The investigation identified Asghar as the ringleader of a gang responsible for supplying significant amounts of cannabis.  

An undercover operation saw police Asghar, Kenyon and Rannard arrested in September last year.  

Officers from the SCDEA watched Asghar leaving his work in Newmains and travelling to the Kirimar Haulage and Logistics at Green Elms Industrial Estate in Uddingston.  

He met with Kenyon and Rannard and the men were seen transferring four boxes into Asghar's van and both vehicles then left the premises.  

The two vans were stopped by police on Burniehill Road, Bellshill.  

Asghar's van had four boxes filled with cannabis and a further nine boxes were found in the van driven by Kenyon and Rannard.    

The boxes were found to contain a total of 242 kilos of cannabis resin with a street value of £1.21 million.  

Detective Chief Superintendent Tony Mole, head of investigations, SCDEA said: "As a result of our investigation, we have prevented a significant amount of illegal drugs from reaching our streets and causing untold harm in our communities.    

"In addition, three drug dealers are serving much-deserved prison terms."