DRUGS EMPIRE RUN FROM CITY SEMI
BOSS OF IMPORT AND DISTRIBUTION NETWORK JAILED FOR 29 YEARS
THE boss of a multi-million pound drugs gang run from a semi-detached home in Leicester has been jailed.
Ardeep takhar, 45, pictured, formerly of Staveley Road, Evington, was sentenced to 29 years.
He was one of 22 people sentenced – 11 in the past few days – for their roles in a nationwide drugs import and distribution network.
Police smashed the organisation in February 2019 with raids across eight counties.
Detective Inspector Harry Rai said: “this gang had a profitable enterprise going, bringing a tonne of dangerous drugs into the UK.
“At the top of the tree was Ardeep takhar, who kept his hands relatively clean by controlling the whole operation from afar in Leicester.”
A drugs kingpin who ran a multimillion pound operation from his semi-detached home in Leicester is now serving a lengthy jail term, along with 21 of his gang members.
More than £20 million of “high purity” illegal drugs – with a street value triple that – flooded into communities across the UK for over a year as a result of the conspiracy masterminded by Ardeep Takhar.
In all, 11 people were sentenced for their involvement during a series of hearings at Leicester Crown Court over the course of the past few days.
They followed 11 others who were sentenced previously, including Takhar, and whose cases can only be reported now following the lifting of restrictions.
Takhar, who pulled the strings of the criminal enterprise from his semi-detached home in Evington, was handed a 29-year prison sentence at Leicester Crown Court.
The court was told how the 45-year-old, formerly of staveley road, was responsible for arranging the importation and distribution of drugs including cannabis, cocaine, amphetamines, anabolic steroids and ketamine.
Two others from Leicester were among the gang, based across the East Midlands and beyond, who are now serving time.
The three Leicester men jailed are:
■ Takhar, formerly of staveley road in Leicester, found guilty of conspiracy to import and supply class A and class B drugs and sentenced to 29 years imprisonment.
■ Jasbir sangha, 40, and formerly of Narborough road south in Leicester, was found guilty of conspiracy to import class A and class B drugs, and conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
He previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class B drugs. He was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment.
■ daljit singh Pamma, 50, and formerly of rosemead drive, Oadby, was found guilty of conspiracy to import and supply class A and class B drugs. He was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment.
POLICE SWOOP
Police said a major enforcement operation, carried out over two days in February 2019 across eight counties, brought the illicit operation to an “abrupt end”.
Co-ordinated from Leicester, a number of main “stash sites” and supply networks in derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and the West Midlands were also raided.
A police spokesman, at the end of the final hearing, said: “In 2017, an investigation by the East Midlands special Operations unit (Emsou) was joining the dots on a massive drugs plot to move various controlled substances around the region and beyond.”
drugs were seized at addresses and storage units in towns and cities across the Midlands, including amphetamines discovered among ice cream in a household freezer and 100kg of the powerful sedative ketamine found in shoe boxes.
An investigation revealed that the gang handled more than a tonne of class A and B drugs – 500kg of cocaine, 500kg of amphetamines, cannabis, hexadrone and ketamine – throughout 2017.
The gang also had links to a storage site in slough and the Emsou team found its activities extended into towns and cities across the country, including Leeds, London, Middlesbrough and Edinburgh.
The investigation also led to the uncovering of a separate six-year conspiracy between two members of the gang – Marc unsted, formerly of Cheslyn Way in Walsall, and Adam dooley, of Wilsthorpe road in Breaston, derbyshire – to supply steroids. Both were jailed for 20 years.
detective Inspector Harry rai said: “This gang had a profitable enterprise going, bringing a tonne of dangerous drugs into the UK.
“They showed no care for the incredible damage this sort of criminality causes, but rather used it to line their pockets – on the face of it, benefitting by tens of millions of pounds.
“At the top of the tree was Ardeep Takhar, who kept his hands relatively clean by controlling the whole illicit operation from afar in Leicester.”
det Insp rai said Takhar arranged for others, including Jasbir sangha and daljit Pamma, to do most of the leg work, receiving the secret shipments as they were brought into the country and then transporting it between counties.
“sukjinder sandhu and david Moth commanded their own gangs and, in partnership with dooley and unsted, went on to flood countless communities with millions of pounds-worth of deadly drugs.”
sandhu, 38, and formerly of radcliffe drive in derby, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs and two counts of conspiracy to supply class B drugs.
He was jailed for 22 years, six months.
david Moth, 47, and formerly of Hogan gardens in Nottingham, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class A and class B drugs. He was jailed for 14 years.
det Insp rai said: “This investigation has been a massive undertaking for Emsou, supported by the National Crime Agency and Border Force, not just in terms of the scale of resources involved, but also in that we were able to take out the whole illicit operation, from the ones at the top pulling the strings to bring the drugs into the country, to those on the streets supplying the final product, and everything in between.
“I’d like to sincerely thank all those at Emsou who have contributed a sustained effort into this lengthy investigation, as well as those in the forces who supported us.”
det Insp rai said he was pleased the police investigation had saved further communities from harm.
He said: “This investigation has been far-reaching, not only with the seizure of a massive amount of controlled drugs destined for all corners of the country, but also in that it has attracted significant sentences for those responsible.
“All this goes a long way to preventing further damage to our communities.
“The war against drugs may be long-fought, but this is another battle won by law enforcement in our quest to keep harmful substances, and the violence they perpetuate, off our streets.”
Efforts to identify and seize money and other assets gained from the crimes are under way under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
The legislation allows courts to seize cash, assets and property linked to crime.