Six members of a gang involved in heroin, crack cocaine and cocaine with a street value of more than £5.5 million have been jailed for a total of more than 60 years for conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
A flat in Lister Court, Cunliffe Road, Manningham, was raided by police on February 12 last year where a haul of 29.8 kilograms of heroin, at varying levels of purity, was found, alongside 78 grams of cocaine and £116,000 of crack cocaine.
Mohammed Dawood Aslam, 35, of Knightsbridge Walk, Holme Wood, described as the “directing hand in this conspiracy” was jailed for 17 years at Bradford Crown Court yesterday.
Mohammed Azam Yaqoob, 45, of North Road, Ravensthorpe, Dewsbury, and Hamayan Nawaz, 25, of Carrington Street, Bradford Moor, were each jailed for nine years and four months.
Jamal Mahroof, 23, of Karam Close, Barkerend, Bradford, was jailed for nine years.
Samir Ali, 23, of Daleside Avenue, Pudsey, Leeds, was sentenced to seven years and three months.
Mohammed Khan, 41, of Glendevon Place, Whitefield, Manchester was sentenced to eight years and seven months.
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All six defendants who were sentenced yesterday had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs, apart from Mahroof who was convicted after a trial at Bradford Crown Court in June this year.
Mohammed Masood Aslam, 26, of Ederoyd Mount, Stanningley, had his sentencing adjourned at Bradford Crown Court until November 7, as he is due to stand trial for a separate case of possession of class A drugs with intent to supply in Manchester next month.
He was remanded in custody until that date.
The eight defendant in this case, Naveed Ahmed, 31, of Byron Street, Barkerend, who was found guilty by the jury in June this year, did not appear in court for yesterday’s verdict of the other six defendants. Instead, he is due to be sentenced at Bradford Crown Court this Tuesday.
Police used camera surveillance at the flat rented by Nawaz and also tracked the gang using mobile phone activity, which began on January 29 last year.
The gang were traced around a host of locations including Bradford, Harrogate, Barnsley and Manchester.
They also uncovered visits by the gang members to the Lister Road flat on several occasions and recorded shopping trips to buy food mixers and a large blue plastic container.
The operation continued until around 11pm on February 12 last year when Aslam, Ahmed, Nawaz and Ali were arrested by officers at the flat.
Earlier that night, two members of the group, Ali and Nawaz, had driven from Bradford to Manchester to pick up five kilograms of “high purity” heroin to add to their operation.
They picked this consignment up from Khan, who was described as the “courier” in the operation.
Aside from the drugs, the police raid on the flat uncovered a list of drug dealers.
The other members of the group were arrested at later dates.
Jailing the gang, Judge Peter Benson said: “In my view, this was the most substantial quantity of drugs to unleash on the streets of West Yorkshire, including a very, very substantial amount of heroin.
“Most of the defendants were arrested at the same time as the flat was raided.”
An order was also made for the destruction of all drugs and equipment seized in the operation.
