THE biggest crackdown on drugs Calderdale has ever seen has led to three key heroin dealers being locked up.

Cousins Tahir Mahmood, 26, and Shaheed Mahmood, 25, each got five years and four months.

Shazad Ibrar, 24 was jailed for three years and four months.

They had admitted having lead roles in a street-dealing conspiracy exposed by undercover officers as part of Operation Irondale.

Over a seven-month period, up to four undercover officers used drug addicts in the King Cross area of Halifax as unwitting go-betweens to target the activities of the so-called “Biggy Line”.

Prosecutor Adrian Dent told a court the “Biggy Line” was one of a number of networks engaged in mobile phone drug dealing and the undercover officers set up a dozen meetings at various locations to buy heroin.

“This seems to have been a well-run operation dealing in small amounts on repeated occasions,” said Mr Dent.

The court heard how one of the undercover officers was questioned about his origins by Tahir Mahmood. Mr Dent submitted that Tahir was clearly very concerned about maintaining the integrity of the operation and was prepared check up when there were suspicions.

Judge John Potter was told that back in November 2006, the Mahmoods and their co-accused Ibrar had all been sent to prison for 42 months for supplying Class A drugs to undercover officers.

Barrister Christopher Diamond, for Tahir Mahmood, said he had not returned to drug dealing straight away following his release from his previous sentence in 2008.

Mr Diamond said there had been a gap of two years during which his client, of Parkinson Lane, King Cross, had done his best to get a job and lead a normal life with his wife and child.

He said Mahmood eventually came up against a brick wall and succumbed to dealing in small quantities of heroin again.

His cousin Shaheed Mahmood, of Craven Terrace, Pellon, Halifax, was also said to have had difficulty getting work after his previous prison sentence and his lawyer Stephen Uttley conceded that he had fallen back into his old ways.

The court heard that Ibrar, of Paddock Lane, Norton Tower, Halifax, had been due to marry his fiancee later this year but that would now have to be postponed.

Ibrar, who also admitted being part of the conspiracy to supply heroin, was sentenced to three years and four months in jail.

Passing sentence Judge Potter said people like the defendants who dealt in Class A drugs had access to significant profits and were driven by greed.

“Your greed and selfishness fed the need of others for drugs and therefore indirectly contributed to community-wide harm in Halifax and elsewhere,” he added.

Chief Superintendent Chris Hardern, Divisional Commander for Calderdale Police, said: “The nature and scale of this ongoing operation demonstrates our commitment to targeting criminals in Calderdale who think they can get away with preying on law-abiding people.

“I hope today’s sentence sends out a clear message to all criminals that we will not stand-by and allow people to live off the proceeds of their crimes.

“Calderdale is an extremely safe place to be because we work closely with our communities to root out the minority who think it is acceptable to lead lives of crime.

“I would encourage residents to continue working with officers, and report any information they have on criminal activity to us immediately. We will always act on the information we receive, and operations like Irondale are a prime example of this.”

Defendant boasted he could bring in heroin and cannabis from across Europe

Friday 28th October 2011

A twice-convicted drug dealer is again behind bars facing a long jail sentence after undercover police officers trapped him in a sting operation.

Mohammed Kershid, 39, will be sentenced at Bradford Crown Court on November 29, along with three accomplices, including Mohammed Ayaz, 38, jailed along with him in 2006 for a drugs plot.

Kershid, formerly of West Bowling, Bradford, and Ayaz, of Waverley Road, Great Horton, Bradford, appeared in the dock yesterday with Mohammed Tariq Khan, 33, of Parkside Road, West Bowling, and a 17-year-old Bradford youth too young to be identified.

All four pleaded guilty on September 13 to conspiracy to supply heroin and Kershid to further charges of supplying Class A drugs. Kershid and Ayaz were remanded back into custody by Recorder Bernard Gateshill. Khan and the teenager had their bail extended to next month’s hearing.

The case was adjourned because no pre-sentence report had been prepared for the teenager.

All four defendants were netted in a cross-border investigation by West Yorkshire Police into drug supplying between the county and Lancashire.

Four undercover police officers were deployed and secret recording devices used to snare the drugs ring.

On January 31 last year, two of the officers met Kershid in Keighley and they discussed trading in cigarettes.

After several meetings, he mentioned possible importation of heroin from Holland and cannabis from elsewhere in Europe. He went on to supply lumps of heroin to the officers, saying he could supply larger amounts if needed.

All four defendants were arrested on June 15 this year. Kershid was apprehended in the Colne area and a search of his house uncovered a large quantity of cash rolled in bundles. Kershid was jailed for three years in 1999 for possession of Class A drugs with intent to supply.

In 2003, he was sent to prison for three years for kidnap and false imprisonment. On April 12, 2006, Kershid was jailed for six years for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.

On that date, Ayaz was locked up for two years for his part in the conspiracy. He was said to have “played second fiddle” to Kershid.

Kershid was ordered to pay up £160,000 or face three more years behind bars. Yesterday, prosecutor Stephen Wood said Kershid, Ayaz and Khan would be the subject of a Proceeds of Crime Application to seize back any ill-gotten gains.


'Commercial scale' drugs gang jailed for total of 17 years

Tuesday 25th October 2011


   Mohammed Asim Khan, known as Beastie

A Bradford drug dealer at the head of a “commercial, wide-ranging, operation” and two of his accomplices have been given prison sentences totalling 17 years.
 
Mohammed Asim Khan, known as Beastie, was jailed for eight years for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and taking part in a revenge attack on a shooting victim at a car wash.
 
Mohammed Khalid Hussain, 26, of Jasmin Terrace, Girlington, Bradford, and Aqeel Ikraam, 30, of Dalton Terrace, Girlington, were each locked up for four and a half years for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.
 
Khan’s brother, Mohammed Aaqib, 22, of Harriet Street, Listerhills, Bradford, was jailed for two years for the car wash assault.
 
Khan’s wife, Shazia Ali, 27, who lived with him at Park Hill Drive, Allerton, Bradford, was sentenced to a 12 month community order with 80 hours unpaid work for mortgage fraud.
 
Prosecutor Stephen Wood told Bradford Crown Court the couple had enjoyed “a comfortable lifestyle funded by crime” .
 
The Recorder of Bradford, Judge James Stewart QC, said Ali, the mother of two young children, turned to criminality under her husband’s influence.
 
Judge Stewart told Khan, Hussain and Ikraam yesterday: “The three of you were involved in a commercial, wide-ranging, drug dealing operation in Bradford, mainly in the Manningham area.”
 
The drugs ring used three phones – a despatch, dealer and business line –- and in June 2010 received dozens of calls in a matter of days.
 
“This was plainly a professional operation,” Judge Stewart said.

Khan, 27, played “a highly significant role” in the conspiracy and he and Hussain used Ikraam as a runner.
 
Ikraam, known as “Kola”, was arrested on June 10, 2010, after drugs squad officers saw him behaving suspiciously in Hollings Road, Manningham. He threw away a tobacco pouch containg 23 wraps of heroin and cocaine.
 
Khan and Hussain were arrested the same day in nearby Hollings Terrace.

Khan and Aaqib were convicted of causing Qaiser Rafique actual bodily harm at the Doctor Sponge Car Wash in Toller Lane, Bradford, on September 25 last year.
 
Co-accused Mohammed Hanees Shabir, 27, of Spencer Road, Great Horton, Bradford, was jailed for 20 years at an earlier hearing for attempting to murder Mr Rafique with a handgun on September 24, 2010, in Summerville Road, Shearbridge.
 
Judge Stewart said Mr Rafique was punched and kicked to “teach him a lesson” after he tried to break away from dealing in drugs for Shabir.
 
The judge said Aaqib played a lesser role than his brother but was “conscripted to provide the muscle”.


Officers seize £10k worth of cannabis from Bradford shop following tip-off

Tuesday 18th October 2011

Cannabis valued at £10,000, and £6,000 of suspected drugs money, was seized by police in a raid on a Bradford newsagent shop.
 
Officers swooped on the shop in Whetley Lane, Manningham, as part of a national Proceeds of Crime week which saw Bradford South officers seize a total of £43,000 and four vehicles, as well as executing 19 warrants and making 23 arrests.
 
Manningham and Toller Neighbourhood Policing Team officers raided the corner shop in Whetley Lane. A balaclava mask and mobile phones were also recovered in the raid, which followed information from the community.
 
Five men were arrested on suspicion of drug dealing and have been bailed pending further inquiries.
 
NPT Inspector Darren Minton said a number of operations had taken place as part of ongoing work to tackle those benefiting from the proceeds of crime. He said the majority of arrests were for drugs-related offences and there had been significant seizures in Manningham.
 
Five people were also arrested as part of a fraud investigation which saw about £35,000 seized from an address in Carlisle Terrace, Manningham.
 
Officers from the Proceeds of Crime team in Airedale and North Bradford had similar successes.
 
They included the arrest of a man and woman, on suspicion of fraud and money laundering, from an address in Bronshill Grove, Allerton, and the arrest of another Bradford man, aged 39, for alleged fraud.
 
Officers also seized £5,857 from a convicted drug dealer at Bradford Crown Court.
 
Detective Sergeant Dave Marston, of Airedale and North Bradford Police, said Keighley detectives had seized more than £1 million from criminals in six months. The money would be re-invested in the fight against crime.
 
He said: “We are working on many more cases and continually receive useful intelligence about wrongdoing.
 
“I would encourage residents to keep telling us if they know of criminal behaviour, as they can be assured we are making sure crime does not pay.”
 
Anyone who suspects someone is living beyond their means, through crime, is urged to contact the Why Should They campaign, in confidence, on 0800 555 111.