Teen trafficked deadly dum-dums
19-YEAR-OLD IS CAUGHT DELIVERING BANNED AMMO AND CARRYING DRUGS
DEADLY ‘dum-dum’ bullets were trafficked through the streets by a teenage gangland ‘foot soldier.’
A cache of the ammunition - which expand on impact to maximise injury were found by police in a car which was abandoned after a pursuit in south Manchester.
Rakeem Zakaria, 19, was delivering 36 0.22 calibre bullets when the speed of the Volvo he was in raised police suspicion.
The car was dumped in Levenshulme and Zakaria and another man, Nabeel Ishtaq, 18, fled the officers chasing them.
However, the pair left behind two black bags which linked them to organised crime - and have led to both being locked up in young offenders institutions.
Inside the car, Zakaria’s fingerprints were found on a black bag containing the ammunition - which is of a type which has been banned in international warfare for nearly 120 years. Meanwhile, Ishtaq’s fingerprints were found on another bag containing 43g of heroin, worth £4,300.
Officers conducted a search of the surrounding area and another bag was found containing 11 wraps of highpurity heroin and 11 wraps of crack cocaine, with a total value of about £300. Now Zakaria, of Stanhope Street, Levenshulme, who was training to be a gas engineer, has been sent to young offenders’ for three years, after admitting possession with intent to supply heroin, being concerned in the supply of cannabis and possessing prohibited ammunition.
Ishtaq, of Merlewood Avenue, has been locked up for two-and-a-half years after he admitted possession with intent to supply heroin and cocaine.
The court heard the pair were drug dealing in order to pay off a debt.
Defending Zakaria, Adrian Palmer said the bag with the bullets had been given to his client without him knowing what was inside.
He said Zakaria was acting on the orders of ‘others,’ and that the pair were ‘foot soldiers’ in the operation.
Speaking of the unidentified ‘others,’ Mr Palmer said: “They may be many things but they are not stupid. They are never found near a weapon or ammunition.”
Referring to the two defendants, Mr Palmer added: “They are far from criminal lynchpins.”
Sentencing, judge Martin Rudland said: “It is serious to be found in possession of not only ammunition per se, but ammunition of this particular sort which causes extreme injury. It can have no other impact other than to cause serious injury or death.”