Gang jailed after £3m drug bust
A COUPLE from Rochdale are among a gang jailed after police found drugs with a street value of £3m in their flat.
Abid Hussain and Mariam Akhtar were found to be hiding heroin, crack cocaine and cocaine in their home on Meadowcroft Lane in August last year.
Taxi driver Yasrab Mahmood, Hussain’s uncle, also from Rochdale, acted as a full-time courier for the pair.
The investigation into the gang initially focused on Ibrar Ashraf, from Blackburn, who was distributing around 1kg of cocaine every week across east Lancashire. It became clear he obtained the drugs from Hussain, a supplier to Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Yorkshire.
His partner, Akhtar, passed drugs to Mahmood and received money from him when Hussain was not available.
The network was discovered after phone records revealed Mahmood went to Blackburn in May, 2016, to meet Ashraf to exchange money or drugs.
In June last year, Mahmood also travelled to Newton Heath to meet Liam Collins, where more drugs and money were exchanged.
In August, Hussain and Akhtar returned to their flat in Rochdale after spending three nights at the Shangri-La luxury hotel in London. They also spent thousands in cash on designer clothes and shoes in Harrods.
Later that day, Mahmood was stopped by police after leaving Hussain’s flat with a bag. Officers found the bag contained 116g of crack cocaine, 81.9g of cocaine and 371g of heroin. Its street value was about £40,000.
Police then raided Hussain and Akhtar’s flat, discovering drugs and cash in nearly every single room. They found 23kg in Class A drugs, worth around £3m, and £164,000 in cash.
Several members of the drug gang were jailed at Preston Crown Court.
Hussain, 28, pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, two counts of converting criminal property and one count of possessing criminal property. He was jailed for 16-and-a-half years.
Akhtar, 31, was found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, two counts of converting criminal property and one count of possessing criminal property following an earlier trial. She was jailed for three-and-a -half years.
Yasrab Mahmood, 46, of Redcross Street, Rochdale, and Ibrar Ashraf, 32, of Whitewell Place, Blackburn pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and were jailed for nine years.
Collins, 38, of Barkworth Walk, Newton Heath, pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and two counts of possession of Class A drugs with intent. He was jailed for four years.
DI John Roy, of Lancashire Constabulary’s Serious Organised Crime Unit, said: “This operation uncovered a network that was distributing Class A drugs throughout the north west.
“As a result of our investigation, we have taken significant quantities of crack cocaine, cocaine and heroin worth a street value of nearly £3m off our streets.”