14 Men jailed for Running £2 million Drug Operation

A police operation which targeted drug trafficking in West Yorkshire has seen £2 million worth of heroin and cocaine seized.

Fourteen people were responsible and were jailed for a combined total of more than 94 years.

Over 27kg of class A drugs were seized by officers from the Force’s Programme Precision Team.

Cannabis, £116,000 in cash and high-value items such as Rolex watches were seized during a series of raids across the county between February 2017 and March 2018.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Walker said:

“This was a significant operation which has resulted in these individuals now having to spend a long time in prison to consider the consequences of their actions.

“Illegal drugs are a scourge on the communities we serve but these sentences should send out a warning to those involved or thinking of getting involved in the illegal supply of drugs.”

Kashif Tahir, aged 38, and Toseef Tahir, aged 29, both of Grange Avenue, Leeds were arrested on May 25, 2017. They were in possession of 1kg of heroin and 2kg of mixing agent.

Jon White, aged 31, and Peter White, aged 50, of Doncaster, were arrested at the same time. They were in a vehicle nearby and were waiting to buy drugs with £16,500 in cash.

All four were convicted of conspiring to supply class A drugs in November 2017. Kashif was jailed for six years and Toseef was jailed for five years and four months.

Peter White was jailed for five years and four months while Jon White was sentenced to five years.

A few days later, Brian Kilgallon, aged 33, of Leeds was arrested. Officers seized 1kg of cocaine, £20,000 cash, jewellery and clothing at an address on Parkstone Avenue.

Kilgallon was jailed for four years and six months after being convicted of possession with intent to supply class A drugs and money laundering.

An unnamed woman, aged 20, from Leeds was convicted of money laundering. She received 100 hours of community service.

On July 3, 2017, Mohammed Faisal, aged 27, of Bradford, was stopped as he drove a hire car on Barker End in Bradford. He was found with 2.88kg of heroin.

Faisal was jailed for six years and five months in September 2017 for possession with intent to supply class A drugs.

Officers then linked Fateh Laher, aged 30, Khawer Maqsood, aged 32, and Mohammed Adam Laher, aged 27, all of Bradford.

All three were charged in July 2017. Fateh Laher and Maqsood pleaded guilty to the offences and were each sentenced to 14 years on July 31, 2018.

Mohammed was jailed for five years and eight months on the same day.

On July 25, 2017, officers witnessed an exchange between the occupants of a Vauxhall Astra and Skoda Superb in a car park in Scunthorpe.

Nivaldo Montiero, aged 23, of no fixed address, was arrested from the Astra a short distance away and was found with 1.1kg of cocaine and £2,000 in cash. He was jailed for five-and-a-half years.

Shafiq Rafiq, aged 38, of Dewsbury, had been driving the Skoda. He was identified and later convicted. Rafiq was jailed for seven years and two months on November 10, 2017.

Mirza Bilal, aged 29, of Shipley, and Idris Khan, aged 28, of Bradford, were arrested in Leeds on September 26, 2017.

They were travelling in a Mercedes and found to have 2kg of heroin and £3,800 in cash on them.

Both were convicted of conspiracy to supply class A drugs on April 17, 2018. Bilal was jailed for six years and Khan was jailed for four years and six months.

On September 28, 2017, Ashley Gibson, aged 27, of Armley, Leeds, was stopped in a transit van on Butts Lane, Leeds.

A package containing 1kg of high purity cocaine was found. Gibson was convicted of possession with intent to supply and jailed for five years on October 20, 2017.

Police officers stopped a Mitsubishi Shogun in Bradford on March 2, 2018. They found 2kg of cocaine.

The two occupants were arrested before police raided a house on Curzon Road, Bradford, where they found a drugs factory.

Officers found 11.5kg of cocaine and empty wrappings for a further 15kg of class A drugs, valued at a further £1.5 million if they were full.

They also found rubber gloves, scales, a large amount of cash and 24kg of mixing agent.

An industrial scale cash counting machine, which was shown to have counted approximately £5 million in two, was also found.

Class A drugs with a street value of £1.1 million were recovered from the address.

A 35-year-old man admitted allowing the premises to be used in the preparation or sale of class A drugs. He received a two-year suspended sentence.

DCI Walker added:

“It should also help to reassure our communities that we do and will take action against those involved in this vile trade.”

“This is done through a mixture of overt policing as well as the significant work that goes on that members of the public (and the criminals) don’t see.”