Conspirators From Bolton Have Been Jailed For Their Role In A £17Million Drugs Ring

Members of a £17m drugs ring have been sentenced following a major investigation by Lancashire Police.

Mohammed Yahya Khan, Mohammed Wasaf Baig, Junaid Anwar, Yousef Ghafoor, Junaed Alam, Mohammed Umar Patel and Benjamin Langford were jailed at Preston Crown Court.

The group was sentenced as part of Operation Nexus, led by Lancashire Police’s Serious and Organised Crime Unit (SOCU).

Between September 2014 and September 2015 officers targeted an organised crime group based in Fishwick, Preston.

Members including Baig, Anwar, Ghafoor and Yahya Khan were seen by officers driving around the city in a Volkswagen Golf, conducting numerous meetings and engaging in the supply of drugs.

Following initial investigations, Baig was spotted meeting with Dhiren Lad and Mohammed Taymure Khan, two men linked to an organised crime group operating from the Bolton area.

This group helped to import high-purity drugs into the United Kingdom for distribution across the country, in particular the Preston area, through a well-established supply chain.

Lad, Taymure Khan, Naheem Aslam and Ricky Parmar led the Bolton group, which included store men, mixers and couriers, who helped to prepare and deliver the drugs on their behalf.

The drugs were then passed to suppliers lower down the chain, in particular Baig, Anwar, Ghafoor and Yahya Khan, who issued the product in Preston.

A pattern of supply of heroin and cocaine was identified by officers, with Taymure Khan and Lad seen visiting Preston on numerous occasions while in contact with Baig and Yahya Khan.

The pair would travel to Lancashire from Bolton in different vehicles with Baig using Mehboob Noor, who lived on the Fishwick estate, to store and prepare drugs.

As part of the operation, Benjamin Langford was found to be communicating with the gang ringleaders and stopped by police with a half a kilogram of cocaine. He had earlier met with Junaed Alam, an associate of the group, who handed him the drugs.

Following various dawn raids and targeted operations in September 2015, police seized 30kg of heroin, close to a kilogram of cocaine, 19 kilograms of amphetamine and 25kg of cannabis skunk.

Detectives estimate the drugs recovered had a street value of £17m.

More than a dozen members of the group were sentenced at earlier hearings.

Those sentenced most recently were jailed for a total of more than 25 years.

Insp Simon Brooksbank, of Lancashire Police, said: “This is yet another example of Lancashire’s Serious and Organised Crime Unit’s relentless effort to take drugs off our streets by combatting their supply.”

“The activities of drug dealers can have such a negative effect on our communities. They can ruin lives, fuel other crime and can instil fear in our neighbourhoods.”

“We will not tolerate the supply and selling of drugs in our county and I hope that the sentences handed down today send out a clear message that we are determined to bring to justice those who are involved in the supply of drugs in our county and beyond and we will continue to tackle organised crime on this scale.”

Previously sentenced and jailed:

Karl Waterworth – 28, of Second Avenue, Bolton. Pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply 25kg of cannabis and sentenced to two years in prison.

Daniel Waterworth – 24, of Second Avenue, Bolton. Pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply 25kg of cannabis and sentenced to two years in prison.

Troy Moore – 24, of Newhaven Avenue, Leigh. Pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply heroin and sentenced to four years in prison.

Mehboob Noor – 28, of Chatsworth Street Preston. Pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply heroin and cocaine and sentenced to four years in prison.

Amjid Khan – 32, of Grey Street, Burnley. Pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply heroin and sentenced to five years and eight months in prison.

Omer Rashid – 27, of no fixed abode. Pleaded guilty of possession with intent to supply heroin and sentenced to three years and six months in prison.

Shaqeel Ditta – 27, of Green Lane, Oldham. Found guilty of possession with intent to supply heroin after trial and sentenced to five years and six months in prison.

Mark Samuels – 42, of Prestwood Close, Bolton, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply drugs and was sentenced to six years.

Dhiren Lad – 34, of Stanley Road, Radcliffe, Manchester, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply drugs and sentenced to 12 years.

Mohammed Khan – 32, of Hilden Street, Bolton, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply drugs and sentenced to 13 years eight months.

Waqar Ahmed – 33, of no fixed abode, pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to supply drugs and found guilty after trial. He was sentenced to nine years in prison.

Naheem Aslam – 34, of Crescent Road, Bolton, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply drugs sentenced to 13 years eight months.

Ricky Parmar – 33, of Rowton Street, Bolton, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply drugs and sentenced to 13 years eight months.

Sentenced between November 2 and 4:

Mohammed Yahya Khan – 28, of Great Townley Street, Preston, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply drugs and sentenced to two years.

Mohammed Wasaf Baig – 28, of New Hall Lane, Preston, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply drugs sentenced to nine years and four months.

Yousef Ghafoor – 28, of Ringwood Road, Preston, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply drugs sentenced to two years.

Mohammed Umar Patel – 30, of Mornington Road, Bolton, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply drugs sentenced to three years.

Junaid Anwar – 30, of New Hall Lane, Preston, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply drugs and sentenced to six years and eight months.

Benjamin Langford – 28, of Cranberry Fold Court, Darwen, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply drugs and sentenced to four years.

Junaed Alam – 26, of Gibraltar Street, Bolton, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply drugs sentenced to three years.