Drug & Gun Running Operation Dismantled

A north-west based organised crime group which used a flower wholesale business in Lancashire as cover for an illegal drug and gun running operation has been dismantled by the NCA and the Dutch National Crime Squad.

The network smuggled cocaine, heroin, MDMA, amphetamine, cannabis, firearms and ammunition from the continent in lorries through the Channel ports into the UK to their depot in Accrington. The drugs would then be sold on to dealers across the UK

The head of the group, Dutch national Mohammed Imran Bhegani, 40, was sentenced to 36 years in prison. His right hand man Sajid Osman, 44, was jailed for 26 years. Other co-conspirators were given sentences of between 17 years and 27 months.

The charges related to four separate seizures in 2014, three made at the UK controls at the Channel Tunnel terminal in Coquelles, northern France, and one in Accrington. The drugs recovered are likely to have had a potential street value totaling almost £30 million.

On the first occasion, in March 2014, Border Force officers found two guns – a pistol and a sub machine gun with a silencer and laser sight – 28 rounds of ammunition, more than 600 kilos of cannabis resin and skunk, 60 kilos of amphetamine, 50 litres of liquid amphetamine, six kilos of cocaine and one kilo of MDMA. 

Dutch lorry driver Pieter Martens was jailed for 24 years for his role in the importation.

Less than two weeks later another seizure was made from a lorry at the Channel Tunnel, this time containing almost a tonne of cannabis, amphetamine, heroin and cocaine. The Dutch driver of the truck was later cleared of importation offences.

On 1 July 2014 Nigel Watson, 52, from Telford was arrested at Coquelles after a truck he was driving was found to contain 30 kilos of heroin and 45 kilos of MDMA.

Working with colleagues in the Netherlands, National Crime Agency investigators linked all the importations to Mohammed Imran Bhegani and Sajid Osman, and found that they had been involved in another 13 separate runs from the continent to the UK.

Bhegani had made all the arrangements, getting consignments delivered to premises in Albion Mill, Accrington, rented and operated by Osman and Nizami Esshak, 56.

NCA officers raided the unit on 26 August 2014, arresting Osman and Esshak along with Taimur Zahid and Hussain Farooq, both of whom had arrived as ‘customers’ to pick up drugs from the unit. Investigators found three boxes containing flowers and 12 kilos of cannabis in their car. More than 200 kilos of cannabis was seized from Albion Mill (below), along with notebooks containing details of customers and quantities of drugs to supply. A further 80 kilos of cannabis was recovered from a van outside.

Bhegani was arrested at Esshak’s nearby home in Accrington. Subsequently Dutch crime squad officers raided properties linked to him in the Netherlands, finding phones and SIM cards that had been used to contact drivers and customers of the group, as well as documentation detailing price lists for drugs and transfers of large amounts of cash.

Dutch lorry driver Benny Planken, 30, was later arrested after being identified as having imported the cannabis found in Albion Mill.

The men were all charged with importation offences. Esshak, Zahid and Farooq all pleaded guilty prior to trial, but Bhegani, Osman, Watson and Planken were found guilty of conspiring to import drugs by a jury at Preston Crown Court on 22 February 2016. Bhegani and Osman were also convicted of importing firearms. They were sentenced at the same court today, Thursday 10 March.

NCA regional head of investigations, Greg McKenna, said:

“In terms of organised crime Mohammed Imran Bhegani was right at the top of the tree. He was an international drug dealer with high-level contacts in mainland Europe. Bhegani had the ability to transport vast quantities of illegal drugs and weapons from the continent and into the UK.

“Osman and Esshak were his trusted associates, charged with overseeing the UK end of the operation, taking delivery of the consignments and arranging the onward distribution.

“To operate on such a commercial scale the group needed the professional skills of hauliers like Watson and Planken, among others, to bring in their illicit cargo. As one was arrested, another would be brought in to take their place.

“As this criminal network was an international one, so too was our investigation, and we have received invaluable assistance from our colleagues in the Dutch National Crime Squad and from Border Force here in the UK.

“Working together we are determined to disrupt and bring to justice organised criminal groups involved in this type of smuggling.”

Details of sentences:

Mohamed Imran BHEGANI,  – of Arnhem, Netherlands; sentenced to 36 years in prison
Sajid OSMAN, – of Bromley Street, Blackburn, Lancs; sentenced to 26 years in prison
Nizami ESSHAK, – of Willows Lane, Accrington, Lancs; sentenced to 7 years in prison
Taimur ZAHID,  – of Egerton Road South, Chorlton-Cum-Hardy, Manchester; sentenced to 27 months in prison
Hussain FAROOQ,  – of Fox Street, Stockport; sentenced to 2 years in prison
Nigel WATSON, - of Clunbury Road, Telford, Shropshire; sentenced to 17 years in prison
Benny Albert PLANKEN, - of Streefkerk, Netherlands; sentenced to 11 years in prison