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Heroin smugglers jailed

Ciara Leeming
21/12/2007

TWO members of a gang which smuggled £1.5m-worth heroin from Pakistan to Oldham stitched into clothing have been jailed for a total of 16 years.

The plot involving Ijaz Ahmed and Mohammed Iqbal saw blocks of pure heroin sewn into the lining of dresses at a Pakistan factory, before being shipped back to Britain.

Back in Oldham, the drugs were cut with paracetamol to maximise profits, Manchester Crown Court heard.

But after a 21-month covert operation, codenamed Baton, police managed to smash the ring.

Three other men received sentences last month for their part in the scheme .

Ahmed, 29, and Iqbal, 40, both of Oldham, admitted the importation of Class A drugs and conspiracy to supply and were sentenced today .

The court heard that gang members travelled Ahmed's ancestral homeland, the North West Frontier of Pakistan - close to the border with Afghanistan - to purchase the drugs.

From there, they were then hidden in clothing and posted to addresses in Oldham, before being taken to the terraced house which doubled as a processing factory.

Jailing Ahmed for nine-and-a-half years and Iqbal for seven, Judge Mushtaq Khokhar said: "Class A drugs cause havoc for those who use them and become addicted. They destroy lives and damage society as addicts turn to crime to fund their habits."

At the earlier hearing, Manir Khan, 37, was jailed for eight years, Mohammed Askeem, 39, for six-and-a-half years and Fazal Hussain, 40, for six years, for their parts in the plot.