"Like so many others, he was wrong."
A major drug dealer who sold over £500,000 worth of cocaine and flaunted his wealth has been jailed for more than 13 years.
Sikander Ali showed off an expensive Patek Philippe watch and a Mercedes G-Class before police busted his network.
He was a wholesale purchaser of the drug, who would then sell to other dealers in the West Midlands.
Supplying cocaine with the ‘Visa’ brand, Ali used the name ‘Buckglove’ on the encrypted mobile phone network Encrochat.
In 2020, Encrochat was infiltrated by an international law enforcement team, exposing a huge number of criminals and criminal conspiracies to trade in illegal goods, launder money, and arrange for killings.
An examination of Ali’s messages described at one point having 10 kilograms available and he bragged about the quality of the drugs, saying:
“U won’t have any complaints, it’s proper.”
He also flaunted his wealth on the network.
Ali admitted to supplying 14kg of cocaine, with each 1kg block worth between £37,000 and £40,000, with a total value of £560,000.
He also admitted borrowing a .38 handgun from another Encrochat user for his own protection, at one point driving around Birmingham carrying the gun.
Ali tried to buy it from the owner, who declined the offer and said:
“Bro if it was that easy I wouldn’t ask you for it back it’s not like there 38s all around the place like a sweet shop.”
His ‘Buckglove’ name attracted police attention while detectives investigated another criminal gang who were plotting for a man to be shot dead in Birmingham.
Ali was arrested as he tried to fly to Dubai from Birmingham Airport in January 2023. He went on to admit conspiracy to supply cocaine and transferring a firearm.
He was jailed for nine years and six months for the drugs offence, and four years, to be served consecutively, for the firearms offence.
After the case, Detective Inspector Matt Marston, of West Midlands Police’s Major Crime Unit, said:
“Like a large number of other criminals around the world, Ali thought that using Encrochat meant he could operate above the law.
“Like so many others, he was wrong.
“His messages revealed a criminal operation, spreading misery through the buying and selling of Class A drugs.”
“Ali is clearly someone who had no qualms about borrowing and carrying a deadly firearm to protect him from others in the criminal underworld.”
The success is part of Operation Target, which sees police take a stand against a range of serious and organised crime offences – from drug dealing and burglary to cybercrime and fraud.
Officers use local intelligence, seize goods, carry out warrants and target offenders as part of Operation Target’s ongoing crackdown against serious and organised crime.
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