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Drug gang busted after smuggling cocaine worth millions in pallets of raw chicken
By SWNS,
3 hours ago
A drug smuggling gang have been jailed for a total of more than 80 years after being found to have transported cocaine across the United Kingdom — in pallets of raw chicken.
The ten-strong gang used a fleet of vans with hidden compartments to ferry millions of pounds worth of drugs around the UK, police said.
Illegal cash was also recovered stashed in vehicle tires and in industrial machinery from vans disguised as mechanical service vehicles.
West Midlands Police said they seized 880 pounds of cocaine as well as $2.11 million in cash after investigators smashed the supply chain.
A drug smuggling gang in the United Kingdom was busted transporting cocaine across the country. West Midlands Police / SWNS
They also recovered 500 pounds of cocaine destined for Australia stored at a warehouse in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham.
Others gang members were arrested after Mohammed Usman collected wheels and tires in the West Midlands before driving to London where they were passed to Sayed Hasheman in a residential street.
Maninder Dosanjh was arrested after police seized 330 pounds of cocaine from the raw chicken. West Midlands Police / SWNS Amandeep Rishi was also arrested for stashing the drugs in the raw chicken pallets. West Midlands Police / SWNS
When the tires were cut open they were found to contain just short of $660,000 in cash.
On another occasion just over $1.32 million cash was recovered from a concealed compartment of an air compressor in another of the gang’s vans which was stopped by officers.
Ten men, who lived in Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Sandwell, Walsall, South Staffordshire and London, were sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court on August 20.
They all pleaded guilty to offenses between March 30, 2020 and August 13, 2020.
Dosanjh was jailed for over 16 years and Rishi for over 11 years for their leading role in conspiring to supply class A drugs and money laundering.
Mohammad Usman, 29, Rizwan Ali, 34 and Kamran Hussain, 34 were also jailed for between seven and nine years, for their significant roles in conspiracy and money laundering.
Peter Masih, 44, Mandeep Singh, 42, Mithab Hussain, 31, who played lesser roles were jailed for between seven and eight years.
Ashtiaq Ahmed, 45 and Sayeed Hashemyan, 38, got over two years for money laundering.
Detective Chief Inspector Pete Cooke said: “This far-reaching investigation covered the importation, exportation and wholesale national supply of cocaine and money laundering.
“We were able to expose the gangs’ activities which were both sophisticated and on a commercial scale, with them using a network of highly trusted individuals and a fleet of vehicles with hidden compartments.
“We believe they were responsible for importing hundreds of kilos of cocaine, estimated to be over a tonne resulting in them making huge sums of cash, thought to be over $13.19 million.
“But all this enterprise was illegal and was putting large quantities of drugs, which we know destroy many lives and blight many communities, on to streets both here in the UK and overseas.”
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