‘We are determined to take criminals’ money away from them’
financial assets and there will be a confiscation hearing in due course. We are determined to take criminals’ money away from them.”
The operation only came to an end after officers at Heathrow Airport intercepted a crate labelled as ’handicrafts’ from Pakistan and discovered 1.73 kilograms of heroin concealed in the hollowed out wooden struts of the container.
Bradford Crown Court heard that the drugs would have an estimated street value of £441,000. The crate had been destined for a house in Blackwood Grove, Pellon, but instead officers carried out an early morning raid on the premises in May 2012 and arrested 30-year-old taxi driver Babar Khan.
Prosecutor Stephen Wood said another consignment marked as ’dinner set wooden show pieces’ had been delivered to an address in Dyson Street, Halifax, back in Novem-
2011 and records showed a further three deliveries between January 2012 and April 2012 to homes in Highfield Terrace, Bowman Terrace and West View, Halifax.
Judge Jonathan Rose heard that the other four consignments, which had not been intercepted, could have resulted in heroin worth more than £1 million reaching the streets of West Yorkshire and beyond.
Married father-of-three Khan, who had worked for Elland Taxis at the time, was found guilty of being involved in the conspiracy to import heroin following a trial last month and received a jail sen- tence of 15 years.
Judge Rose concluded that Khan had played a ‘leading role’ in the conspiracy and was towards the top of the organisation at least in the Halifax area.
Tasadaq Hussain, 36, of Bowman Terrace, and 28-yearold Imran Muhammed Ali, of Dyson Road, both pleaded guilty to the same conspiracy to import heroin before Khan’s trial got underway.
Hussain was jailed for a total of 12-and-a-half years after admitting the conspiracy charge and two further offences of possessing heroin with intent to supply.
Father-of-two Ali, who had claimed that he was only going to receive £500 plus one ounce of cannabis for allowing his address to be used for a delivery, was sentenced to nine years in jail after Judge Rose said he had also played a significant role.