“Mohammed Sheikh was running a profitable drugs operation"
A drug dealing couple were stopped at Birmingham Airport trying to escape for a holiday in Mexico.
Mohammed Sheikh and his girlfriend Sapphire Edwards were involved in County Lines drugs operations in Dudley selling heroin and crack cocaine.
Sheikh was behind the drug operation.
Dudley neighbourhood officers referred a phone line suspected to be the source of a “major operation” to the County Lines Task Force for further investigation.
It was found that bulk messages were being sent from the phone line to a large number of numbers.
Sheikh was the suspect, having made a top-up purchase for the phone associated with it in November 2021. But the number was dropped shortly afterwards.
In June 2022, Sheikh was stopped in Dudley and detained for a drugs search.
Whilst no drugs were found, Sheikh was in possession of a mobile phone, which contained deleted bulk messages advertising Class A drugs for sale and using the name Sandy.
In December of that year, another Sandy Lines number was discovered.
This line was activated just six days after Sheikh was searched in June.
Identical bulk messages from this line were sent on an almost daily basis between September and December to approximately 300 mobile numbers, with many linked to known drug users in Dudley.
Officers found Sheikh was regularly travelling between his home in Birmingham to Dudley, just after the bulk messages had been sent.
That number was also dropped but officers then identified the new drugs line number through “further telecommunication enquiries”.
Another phone Sheikh was using belonged to his girlfriend.
Edwards’ phone was linked to the drugs line and to movements around a Dudley address suspected to be associated with drug dealing, where she was living at the time.
The address was searched in March 2023 and Edwards was arrested after a “substantial amount of heroin and crack cocaine” was found in a bedroom.
She was released on bail but her phone was linked to the existing drugs line.
Police said: “Images and messages retrieved from her phone also suggested she was involved in drug deals.”
On May 6, 2023, the couple tried to fly to Cancun for a holiday on the drugs profits but were stopped at Birmingham Airport.
Sheikh was found with a large amount of cash on him and was wearing expensive designer items and jewellery.
Luxury goods and cannabis concealed within a container of moisturising cream were also found in his suitcase.
The drug dealing couple had their personal phones seized.
When analysed, the phones showed that the couple were picked up from an address in Edgbaston that morning.
Following a search of that property, high-value designer clothes and cannabis with a street value of £2,000 were discovered.
Sheikh and Edwards were charged and remanded in custody.
Sheikh later pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin and possession of a controlled Class B drug with intent to supply.
Edwards also pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin.
Sheikh was jailed for 10 years while Edwards received an 18-month suspended sentence and 120 hours of unpaid work for her involvement in his drug deals.
Detective Constable Phil Langstone from West Midlands Police’s County Lines Taskforce said:
“Mohammed Sheikh was running a profitable drugs operation with little regard for its devastating impact on others, including his girlfriend who he cajoled into working for him.
“He tried hard to evade us, dropping and running new phone lines, but we were determined to bring his dealings to an end and we’re pleased to see him behind bars after a thorough investigation.”
Detective Sergeant Robert Moir from the task force added:
“Sheikh was happy to benefit from selling drugs, knowing the misery they inflict on communities, and was planning to spend some of the profits on a luxury holiday in Mexico.
“Fortunately, we were able to arrest him before he boarded the plane and he is now having an all-inclusive experience at His Majesty’s pleasure.”
Loading ...