A FUGITIVE who fled the UK after attempting to smuggle £1.2m of cocaine into a North Yorkshire airfield has been jailed.

Jason Waterman - whose nicknames include Jugs and Jumbo - was wanted in connection with drug trafficking, and fled the country after seven kilos of the drug were found in an aircraft at Bagby Airfield near Thirsk in October 2015.

The National Crime Agency said Waterman - originally from Watford - handed himself in to authorities in Gibraltar in June when he "arrived without warning, dripping salt water and carrying a small bag of wet clothing".

The 33-year-old later told officers he had swum from Spain rather than come across the land border, and he was extradited back to the UK to face drug importation charges.

On what would have been the first day of his trial at Bradford Crown Court on Monday, December 18, he pleaded guilty, and a judge sentenced him to seven years and two months in prison.

NCA Branch Commander David Norris said: "Waterman fled the UK for more than a year and a half in an attempt to avoid this moment, so it gives us great satisfaction to see him behind bars. It demonstrates that the NCA does not give up the hunt, and to everyone else feeling the stress of being on the run I would say we are patient people, we keep the pressure on, and we never stop looking for you.

"This investigation drew on the combined skills of the NCA, North Yorkshire Police, Border Force and overseas partners. Working together we are determined to do all we can to disrupt and prosecute those involved in trafficking and organised crime."

Following a trial in March 2017 the aircraft pilot who had flown Waterman to the UK from the Netherlands was found not guilty of importation offences.