Brothers who flaunted drugs wealth are jailed
TWO brothers who loved to flaunt their ill-gotten gains from a “24-hour cocaine supply line” have been jailed.
The pair, who ran a “county lines” drugs network, took pictures of bundles of cash in their luxury cars while wearing expensive designer watches. Mohammed Awais Khan and his brother Mohammed Luqman Khan ran the cocaine network from their home in Smethwick.
They supplied drugs to users in Stoke-on-Trent through a “D Drugs Line”.
Awais Khan, 27, who referred to himself as “Snowman 24 hour’’, boasted he could supply cocaine 24 hours a day.
The men would arrange to meet users outside shops and pubs – but they would also drop to home addresses, West Midlands Police said.
But their enterprise came crashing down after detectives from the County Lines Taskforce caught wind of what they were doing and swooped.
Officers arrested Awais Khan at his home address in St Pauls Road, Smethwick, on January 27 this year. Police recovered the drugs line phone next to the driving licence of 24-year-old Luqman Khan.
Officers then swooped and arrested the younger brother, also living in St Paul’s Road.
They were both taken into custody and charged with conspiring to supply Class A drugs. They both pleaded guilty to the charges while appearing at Wolverhampton Crown Court where a complex investigation which utilised communications data evidence showed that the brothers had sent bulk messages to drugs users offering the supply of cocaine and how they ran
the drugs line, police said.
It was revealed how officers were able to obtain further evidence from the defendants’ mobile phones showing drug dealing lists of how much money they were making and messages where Awais Khan was referring to himself as “Snowman 24 hour” – indicating that they would be able to supply cocaine 24 hours a day.
Phones recovered during the investigation also showed images of large bundles of cash, expensive watches and high performance vehicles.
Both defendants pleaded guilty to their involvement and were sentenced at Wolverhampton Crown Court.
Awais Khan was jailed for 11 years and six months and Mohammed Luqman Khan for seven years and two months.
Speaking after the case, Detective Superintendent Syed Hussain, of the County Lines Taskforce, said: “County Lines drug dealers like the Khan brothers ruin lives and our officers from the County Lines Taskforce worked hard to stop them and bring them to justice.
“County Lines gangs should know they are in our sights and our work goes on 24/7 throughouttheyeartostopthem.”