A police ''sting'' which involved officers posing as English drug dealers in a second-hand furniture shop in Glasgow's drug heartland has led to five people being jailed.

A senior detective said there was no doubt police officers had put their lives at risk in setting the trap in Possilpark, which yesterday was hailed as ''a triumph''.

''If they had been rumbled, I am sure some of the local criminals would have tried to have them murdered,'' the detective said after temporary Judge John Wheatley QC imposed the sentences at the High Court in Glasgow.

Five members of the drugs gang, who pleaded guilty to various charges two weeks ago, appeared before him. Fighting erupted in the court seconds after the sentences were delivered. One of the accused threw a cigarette lighter at the judge after being sentenced to seven years.

Court police, whose numbers were reinforced after two dozen supporters of the accused attended the court, were able to quell the chaos.

Christine Bennett, 31, of Stonyhurst Street, Possilpark, was jailed for three years for heroin trafficking. Stephen Kelly, 23, of Allander Street, Possilpark, was sentenced to seven years for heroin dealing.

Stuart Totten, 26, of Acredyke Road, Balornock, was jailed for five years; Brian Kelly, 24, of Allander Street, Possilpark, for four years; and Mark Guthrie, 24, of Lamb Street, Possilpark, for two years, all for dealing in Temazepam tablets.

The court heard two weeks ago that Bennett, the sister of one of Scotland's biggest convicted heroin dealers, was caught in an undercover police ''sting'' along with more than 100 others.

Operation Caesar involved police posing as English drug dealers and opening a second-hand furniture shop in Possilpark, the heart of Glasgow's drug land. In one deal, Bennett traded heroin worth #140 for a second-hand vacuum cleaner to the ''sting'' police.

Her brother, Robert, had already been jailed for nine years for drug dealing. He owned a speedboat on Loch Lomond, a bungalow in Cardonald, and bought a pet shop for his girlfriend from his dealings.

After he was jailed, the boyfriend of Bennett was jailed for 10 years for killing another man.

Then Francis Kelly, 27, moved in with her before he was caught in the police sting. He was jailed earlier this month for six years for selling undercover police a sawn-off shotgun, the court heard yesterday.

Bennett admitted selling heroin with a street value of up to #2400 to the police who operated out of a shop named Traders in Saracen Street, Possilpark, for three months.

The court was told police set up the shop and let it be known they would buy drugs and other illegal items. The illicit deals were recorded by hidden video equipment in the back shop.

Earlier this month, Temporary Judge Wheatley QC jailed four others caught in the sting. Almost 100 other cases from Operation Caesar have still to come before the courts.

Police set up the unique operation to penetrate Glasgow's most notorious drug area, where drug barons operate using lookouts on street corners and from behind the protection of steel doors in the slum flats from where they operate.

A senior detective said yesterday: ''The criminals were totally unaware they were being netted by the sting operation. They all walked into the trap and volunteered to sell drugs, guns, and stolen property.

''The police officers put their lives at risk. If they had been rumbled, I am sure some of the local criminals would have tried to have them murdered.

''The second-hand furniture side of the shop even showed a profit. The whole police operation was a complete triumph.''