The kingpin of a multimillion pound skunk cannabis ring which worked out of lockups and homes in Surbiton, Epsom, Sutton and Kingston, has claimed he was merely second in command.

Anthony Mills, 43, pointed the finger at Kingston father Terry Bowler, who is already serving a 16 year prison sentence for his role in the network.

But Mills, described as the director of a Tesco-sized conspiracy, was sentenced to 17 and a half years in prison by Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday, August 10.

Prosecutor Timothy Cray said: "If the man pushing cannabis on the street, the small-time dealer, is equivalent to the market trader selling his fruit and veg outside London Bridge station, then this group were the big players, the Tesco. Anthony Mills was the director of this Tesco."

He had gone on the run after the rest of his gang were swooped on by police in November 2008 after months of undercover surveillance.

Detectives caught the gang smuggling cannabis from Holland hidden in flower boxes.

They spotted Mills, who and fellow ‘board members’ including Bowler in places including Cafe Rouge in Esher and cafes in Wimbledon and Epsom, where they calculated their earnings – estimated to be worth £1m a week.

They repackaged the drugs in garages before selling them on to major drug dealers, laundering the money to hidden bank accounts in Pakistan, Dubai and Switzerland.

The success of their £61m operation and their relatively clean criminal records inspired recent BBC drama The Shadow Line.

The ring made at least £22m in profit over the time they were followed by undercover police but prosecutors believe it may have been the tip of the iceberg with bank accounts registered back as far as 2002.

Bowler, of Kingston-upon-Thames, was jailed for 16 years last March. Peter Moran, of Fulham, and Mark Kinnimont, of Surbiton, received 14 years each.

Criminal proceeds hearings will attempt to claw the money back with up to 10 year extensions of prison sentences if the criminals do not confess where they have stashed the cash.

For more on the full criminal history of Britain's largest skunk cannabis ring visit www.surreycomet.co.uk/news/drugs