A second man has been jailed after after £500,000 of hybrid Californian cannabis was seized at a luxury Watford hotel.

Luke French, of Moat Lane in Birmingham, appeared at Inner London Crown Court on October 28 and was sentenced to two years and eight months behind bars for his part in the incident at the Hilton London Watford Hotel in Elton Way on April 4.

The 35-year-old was one of three men charged after being arrested with large amounts of the class B drug and around £5,000 in cash.

(Image: City of London Police) Pictures show suitcases packed with the hybrid Californian cannabis.

There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing on the part of the hotel.

French pleaded guilty on May 29 to importing cannabis into the UK, but his sentencing was adjourned until earlier this week, having been scheduled for September.

At that September hearing, co-conspirator Roberto Martinez, of Huntingdon Park in California, was jailed for two years.

(Image: Wikimedia/Stephen Richards) The 33-year-old American had previously admitted to the fraudulent evasion of a prohibition on the importation of class B drugs.

Martinez had also denied possession of cannabis with intent to supply, but the Crown Prosecution Service chose not to pursue this charge.

The third suspect in the case avoided jail after being found not guilty on three of the four counts she faced.

Joanne Parkes, of Benedon Road in Birmingham, pleaded guilty to possession of a class A drug, namely cocaine, but denied importation of cannabis, possession of the class B drug with intent to supply, and possession of criminal property, namely the £5,000 in cash.

She was cleared of three charges and sentenced only for the class A drug possession.

Parkes was given a 12-month conditional discharge, sparing her a prison sentence unless she reoffends in the next year.

Speaking earlier this year, Detective Superintendent Richard Waight described the charges as a "significant haul" in the fight against the illegal supply of drugs into London.

He said: “City of London Police are committed to bringing organised crime groups to justice and making our streets safer.”