Dealers swapped £130,000 drug cash in street

TWO DRUG dealers who exchanged £130,000 on a West Yorkshire street have been sent to prison.

Leeds Crown Court heard that Yusuf Kara, 30, and Ashraf Khan, 31, were seen with the drugs money in Moortown, Leeds, in October.

Kara met Khan, 31, in Whinbrook Gardens. The court heard Kara took a black bin bag from the boot of his car and put it into the back of Khan’s van.

Both men then drove away. Later that day in Bolton, officers stopped Khan and found £130,000 hidden under a false floor in the van. He was arrested at the scene.

Kara was arrested in Shearbridge Road, Bradford. When officers searched his house they found 56 packages, each containing 1kg of heroin, in bags and a suitcase. The drugs had a street value of about £3m.

Kara, of Glendare Avenue, Bradford, last month admitted conspiracy to supply class A drugs and money laundering. Khan, of no fixed address but formerly of Bradford, admitted money laundering.

They appeared at Leeds Crown Court and were sentenced to 10 years four months and 28 months in prison respectively.

Jo Broadbent, National Crime Agency operations manager, said the case was important because drugs damaged the lives of the vulnerable.

She added: “The seizure of this significant amount of heroin is a big step towards protecting the public from the damage and devastation drugs cause.

“These drugs often end up in the hands of county lines networks where they fuel violence and the exploitation of young and vulnerable people. This significant amount of drugs haven’t made their way to the streets and the criminals behind them are behind bars.”

She said tackling drug trafficking was one of their highest priorities and the NCA would continue to work “to pursue and disrupt offenders”.