£300k spice gang jailed
‘BIGGEST-EVER’ HAUL OF ZOMBIE DRUG SEIZED
GANGSTERS who plotted to flood the streets of Greater Manchester with Spice have been jailed after police made their biggest-ever seizure of the ‘zombie’ drug.
A home laboratory used to massproduce Spice was found in an Oldham flat linked to conspirators Milad Finn, Keith Robinson, Jamie English and Hassan Dehani.
Over £300,000-worth of the synthetic cannabinoid – which can leave users in ‘zombie-like’ catatonic states, trigger psychotic reactions and has profoundly affected troubled communities like the homeless and prison inmates – were recovered from the flat.
Plotters behind the 20kg seizure were also involved in the production and sale of crystal meth, cocaine and heroin.
Ringleader Milad Finn, 29, of Haddon Road, Stockport, had previously been acquitted of the murder of Junaid Khan, 21, who was machine-gunned to death in Chadderton, Oldham, in 2009.
Finn was accused of having used a tracking device to stalk Mr Khan before murdering him with a Mac-10, but was cleared, alongside two others, after telling jurors the evidence in the case related to plots to sell heroin and rob drug dealers, and not the killing.
He was later jailed for six years after prosecutors used his murder trial defence to build a drugs case against him. Soon after his early release in 2015, Finn embarked on a new drugdealing plot. Between July 2016 and March 2017 the gang led by Finn, who had a long history of ordering chemicals for adulterating drugs from China, sourced the chemicals and equipment needed to produce illegal drugs by establishing companies that could legitimately purchase restricted chemicals.
The dealers used fictional names, as well as email accounts and falsified documents, to disguise their illegal activities and avoid detection by the police.
Now Finn has been jailed for nine years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to produce a psychoactive substance, handling stolen goods, encouraging or assisting in the production of Class A or Class B drugs and breaching a serious crime prevention order.
His gang had researched online how to make the drugs, using specialist software in a bid to avoid detection.
But raids were carried out into residential properties and storage units across Oldham and Stockport in March last year.
At plotter Keith Robinson’s house, officers discovered laboratory equipment and chemicals used to manufacture synthetic drugs, as well as a large amount of heroin and 20kg of Spice with a street value of £300,000, which GMP described as the ‘biggestever seizure of the substance.’
Robinson, 53, of Manchester Road, Oldham, was sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to produce a psychoactive substance and encouraging or assisting in the production or supply of Class A or B drugs.
Jamie English, 36, of Richmond Avenue, Royton, Oldham, was sentenced to 20 months in prison after pleading guilty to encouraging or assisting in the production or supply of Class A or Class B drugs.
Hassan Dehani, 27, of Lynton Avenue, Oldham, was sentenced to 17 months in prison after pleading guilty to encouraging or assisting in the production or supply of Class A or Class B drugs.
Detective Chief Inspector James Faulkner, from GMP’s Oldham borough, said: “Finding these men stopped thousands of pounds worth of potentially lethal drugs flooding our streets.
“They were so committed to producing these dangerous drugs that these men lied and deceived to hide their behaviour, which they knew was breaking the law.
“It’s thanks to the proactive work of Oldham’s dedicated Challenger team that we were able to uncover the dangerous and illegal activities of these men and hold them to account.
“They will now spend several years behind bars, forced to face the consequences of their deceitful and dangerous drug operation.”