Men jailed for heroin conspiracy

Eight men have been sentenced for a drugs conspiracy that saw millions of pounds of heroin imported into the UK.

A luxury flat in the Gatehaus apartment block in Bradford was transformed into a base from which the drugs were prepared for sale on the streets.

Leeds Crown Court was told how the men were operating at a scale that put them "near to the top of the heroin trade within the UK".

The men were sentenced for conspiracy to supply or import heroin.

Bugged calls

Mohammed Nazir, 31, from Prestwich, was sentenced to 26 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply heroin.

John Ryder, 38, and from Wolverhampton, was given a 24-year jail term for conspiracy to import the drugs.

The court was told that Nazir and Ryder were the gang's main ringleaders.

Following a trial, Daniel Hayes, 42, from Wolverhampton, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import heroin as did Christopher Cobby, 39, from Newcastle-under-Lyme.

Hayes was sentenced to 13 years and nine months and Cobby received 14 years.

Abid Sabir, 25, Wajid Sabir, 29, and Sayedur Rahman, 25, all from Bradford, were found guilty of conspiracy to supply heroin and received 24 years, 20 years and 16 years respectively.

Karl Edwards, 33, from Wolverhampton, was sentenced to 13 years and nine months after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply heroin.

Nazir organised the purchase of the heroin in Turkey and the drugs were then moved through Europe to Holland, where members of Ryder's gang organised for them to be smuggled into the UK.

The Serious Organised Crime Agency worked with Dutch police officers to establish the drug route, while surveillance officers secretly photographed meetings between the gangs and bugged telephone calls.

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