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A gang of drug smugglers have been jailed after they were caught with heroin worth £306 million concealed in vegetables and bed linen.
The international drugs ring planned to flood UK streets with the drug, imported from Pakistan, in one of the largest ever drug smuggling plots uncovered in the UK.
The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) traced the criminal network to the West Midlands and spent months gathering intelligence on suspected members - which included a husband and wife team - in 2009.
Kingpin Mohammed Farooq, 47, was caught after a massive 263kg load of heroin was traced to a warehouse he owned. His wife Catherine Farooq was sentenced to nine months for money laundering offences
The three-year operation, called Project No Deal, intercepted the £26 million 1,036 kg of heroin - which held a street value of £306 million.
It is one of the largest ever drug smuggling plots ever uncovered in the UK.
The intelligence-led operation started in June 2009 when a shipment of heroin hidden inside bags of chilli powder was intercepted at Leeds Bradford Airport after it arrived from Pakistan.
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Officials managed to use the address information - even though it was false - to identify suspects in the West Midlands and Pakistan.
Further enquiries led to a series of seizures of increasingly large amounts as the gang became more audacious in their smuggling attempts.
Officers and border officials swooped in seven different locations at Felixstowe, Tilbury Docks and addresses across Birmingham between April 2011 and August 2012.
Customs officers found heroin stashed inside shipments of vegetables, bed-linen and even in deliveries of sanitary products.
Further raids then found drugs cash stashed inside cars after meetings between key players were caught on secret cameras.
Eventually, kingpin Mohammed Farooq, 47, was caught alongside two Pakistani associates after SOCA traced a massive 263kg load of heroin to a warehouse he owned.
Farooq, from Solihull, West Midlands., was jailed for 29 years in June after he admitted organising the 263 kilo shipment of heroin.
He was captured on undercover surveillance footage handing boxes of cash to couriers in supermarket car parks.
Wife Catherine Farooq, 51, the final member of the ring, was jailed at Birmingham Crown Court on Friday for money laundering.
The court heard Farooq had used the drugs money to fund his daughters' private school education - and his wife had splashed out on a new Mercedes.
In total, 19 people were arrested and have been jailed for a total of 232 years in the past year for their roles in the crime.
Police welcomed the convictions and vowed to continue fighting against illegally imported drugs.
SOCA's Andrew Quinn said: 'Collaboration with local, national and international partners has thwarted a number of plots to smuggle huge quantities of heroin into the UK.
'Over a tonne of heroin has been seized and members of the organised crime groups responsible have been handed long prison sentences.
'We want to disrupt these people 24 hours a day, seven days a week and make their lives a misery.
'They will feel more visible to law enforcement and undergo relentless pressure from us.'
Mehrban Hussain, 24, Nadeem Aslam, 33, Majinda Tethy, 35, Safdar Nawaz, 32, Mohammed Khan, 36, Mohammed Nasser, 41, Zahir Ali, 22, all from Birmingham, and Akhtar Safudin, 42, Asid Shan, 23, Naeem Mussa Bhai, 32, all from Leicester as well as Dilawar Ahmedzai, 23, from Bradford and Ali Abdulla, 37, from Leeds, were all jailed for conspiracy to import heroin.
Muhammed Rajmil, 46, Abdul Niazi, 41, both from London, were jailed for money laundering.
Ahmad Shah, 40, and Homayon Mehrpoor, 58, both from Pakistan were jailed for a total of 54 years after both being found guilty of conspiring to import heroin.
Sarah Dillon, reviewing lawyer for the Crown Prosecution Service, added: 'Today marks the end of a series of prosecutions that have had a major impact on criminal gangs operating in the Midlands.
'It sends a clear message that those who profit from a drug that is a scourge on our society will be held accountable.'
Gang of heroin smugglers jailed after they were caught with drugs worth £306million hidden in vegetables and bed linen | Mail Online
The international drugs ring planned to flood UK streets with the drug, imported from Pakistan, in one of the largest ever drug smuggling plots uncovered in the UK.
The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) traced the criminal network to the West Midlands and spent months gathering intelligence on suspected members - which included a husband and wife team - in 2009.
Kingpin Mohammed Farooq, 47, was caught after a massive 263kg load of heroin was traced to a warehouse he owned. His wife Catherine Farooq was sentenced to nine months for money laundering offences
The three-year operation, called Project No Deal, intercepted the £26 million 1,036 kg of heroin - which held a street value of £306 million.
It is one of the largest ever drug smuggling plots ever uncovered in the UK.
The intelligence-led operation started in June 2009 when a shipment of heroin hidden inside bags of chilli powder was intercepted at Leeds Bradford Airport after it arrived from Pakistan.
More...
Drink and drugs IMPROVED my snooker says world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan as he reveals battle with addiction
Teenage son of Russian businessman who went to London diplomats school shot dead 'looking for drugs' in Rio
Officials managed to use the address information - even though it was false - to identify suspects in the West Midlands and Pakistan.
Further enquiries led to a series of seizures of increasingly large amounts as the gang became more audacious in their smuggling attempts.
Officers and border officials swooped in seven different locations at Felixstowe, Tilbury Docks and addresses across Birmingham between April 2011 and August 2012.
Customs officers found heroin stashed inside shipments of vegetables, bed-linen and even in deliveries of sanitary products.
Further raids then found drugs cash stashed inside cars after meetings between key players were caught on secret cameras.
Eventually, kingpin Mohammed Farooq, 47, was caught alongside two Pakistani associates after SOCA traced a massive 263kg load of heroin to a warehouse he owned.
Farooq, from Solihull, West Midlands., was jailed for 29 years in June after he admitted organising the 263 kilo shipment of heroin.
He was captured on undercover surveillance footage handing boxes of cash to couriers in supermarket car parks.
Wife Catherine Farooq, 51, the final member of the ring, was jailed at Birmingham Crown Court on Friday for money laundering.
The court heard Farooq had used the drugs money to fund his daughters' private school education - and his wife had splashed out on a new Mercedes.
In total, 19 people were arrested and have been jailed for a total of 232 years in the past year for their roles in the crime.
Police welcomed the convictions and vowed to continue fighting against illegally imported drugs.
SOCA's Andrew Quinn said: 'Collaboration with local, national and international partners has thwarted a number of plots to smuggle huge quantities of heroin into the UK.
'Over a tonne of heroin has been seized and members of the organised crime groups responsible have been handed long prison sentences.
'We want to disrupt these people 24 hours a day, seven days a week and make their lives a misery.
'They will feel more visible to law enforcement and undergo relentless pressure from us.'
Mehrban Hussain, 24, Nadeem Aslam, 33, Majinda Tethy, 35, Safdar Nawaz, 32, Mohammed Khan, 36, Mohammed Nasser, 41, Zahir Ali, 22, all from Birmingham, and Akhtar Safudin, 42, Asid Shan, 23, Naeem Mussa Bhai, 32, all from Leicester as well as Dilawar Ahmedzai, 23, from Bradford and Ali Abdulla, 37, from Leeds, were all jailed for conspiracy to import heroin.
Muhammed Rajmil, 46, Abdul Niazi, 41, both from London, were jailed for money laundering.
Ahmad Shah, 40, and Homayon Mehrpoor, 58, both from Pakistan were jailed for a total of 54 years after both being found guilty of conspiring to import heroin.
Sarah Dillon, reviewing lawyer for the Crown Prosecution Service, added: 'Today marks the end of a series of prosecutions that have had a major impact on criminal gangs operating in the Midlands.
'It sends a clear message that those who profit from a drug that is a scourge on our society will be held accountable.'
Gang of heroin smugglers jailed after they were caught with drugs worth £306million hidden in vegetables and bed linen | Mail Online
