LONDON – Three Indian-origin men along with their two Pakistaniaccomplices have been sentenced to a total of 95 years in jail by a UKcourt for running an international drug-smuggling racket to “flood thestreets of Britain” with more than 10 million pounds of illegal Class Adrugs.
The five men were part of a Leicester-based organised crime gang involvedin importing heroin and cocaine hidden in purpose-built secret compartmentsin furniture, industrial bolts and children’s clothes, the LeicestershirePolice said.
Jagdish Patel, 51, was found guilty of conspiracy to import and supplycocaine and heroin, and was sentenced to 25 years; Ravindra Modha, 55, wasfound guilty of conspiracy to import cocaine and was sentenced to 16 years;and Paulvinder Randhawa, 47, admitted conspiracy to supply heroin and wassentenced to 18 years.
Their Pakistani-origin accomplices Talib Hussain, 59, and Ayaz Hussain, 28were sentenced to 24 years and 12-and-a-half years respectively byLeicester Crown Court yesterday.
They were engaged in a plot to flood the streets of Britain with more than10 million pounds of Class A illegal drugs, the court was told.
The gang organised the importation of 60 kg of cocaine, with a street valueof 9.6 million pounds, as well as 1 kg of heroin with a street value of316,000 pounds.
A further shipment of cocaine and heroin, organised by the group, wasseized in France, while a shipment of heroin, destined for the UK, wasseized in Pakistan.
“Patel and Talib Hussain, with the support of Modha, were drug traffickersof a serious calibre. They were well connected in their trade to import aregular supply of drugs from Pakistan and the Netherlands,” said DetectiveInspector Harry Rai, who led the operation.
Their racket was thwarted by the East Midlands Special Operations Unit(EMSOU), working with the UK’s National Crime Agency and law enforcementagencies in the Netherlands, Pakistan and France.
Rai, who was EMSOU’s Senior Investigating Officer in the case, said thesentencing marks the end of a very long and complex investigation that wasundertaken over a number of months.
“The communities of Leicestershire should be reassured that a significantamount of drugs have been prevented from reaching the streets…
“In my 22 years in policing and 14 years being part of serious andorganised crime investigations, I haven’t come across anything on thisscale,” he added.
An investigation was launched by EMSOU after Randhawa was caught byScotland Yard in 2016 with a batch of bolts with heroin hidden inside.
Working in liaison with the National Crime Agency and law enforcementagencies in the Netherlands, Pakistan and France, British detectivesarrested the five men last year after establishing that they were involvedin arranging, managing and overseeing the importation of drugs, as well astheir distribution within the UK.