Cocaine drug gang members who brought 'a trade of death and destruction' to Halifax are jailed

The conspiracy to supply wholesale quantities of high-purity cocaine to dealers in places such as Halifax and Bradford was run by 31-year-old Blackburn man Yasser Shah who was today (Tuesday) locked up for 17 years for his leading role in the illegal enterprise which came to an end in May last year.

Father-of-two Shah, of Tenby Close, recruited couriers to collect, transport and deliver consignments of the Class A drug and Bradford Crown Court heard how the gang used encrypted mobile phones, tracking devices and so-called “spoofing SIM cards”.

MORE CRIME: Calderdale sex offender jailed after breaching order and going on trips to Germany and Czech Republic

A fifth member of the gang 38-year-old Gul Bahar, of Park Terrace, Halifax, also admitted being part of the conspiracy to supply cocaine, but his case was adjourned for sentencing in May.

Prosecutor Alexander Langhorn told the Recorder of Bradford Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC that an organised crime group headed by Shah had been responsible for trafficking multi-kilogram amounts of high-purity cocaine from the Midlands throughout the North of England.

The court heard that during the police investigation two 10-kilo consignments from the Midlands were intercepted and a further one kilo of cocaine was seized in Halifax last year.

Mr Langhorn told the court that the 21 kilos had an estimated wholesale value of between £500,000 and £750,000.

But he submitted that the seizures were just a fraction of the drugs which had been supplied and trafficked by the group.

MORE CRIME: Drug gang jailed after woman found with £70,000 worth of cocaine when stopped on the M62

The court heard courier Bilal Ashraf, 30, of no fixed abode, had made over 50 trips to Halifax and 40 to Bradford while his replacement Hassam Rasool, 26, of Rhyl Avenue, Blackburn, went to Halifax 11 times and Bradford 10.

Mr Langhorn said the pair had also visited Newcastle, Sheffield, Telford, Coventry and Luton during the period and indicated that the conspiracy could have involved in excess of 100 kilograms of high-purity cocaine.

“It is plain, the prosecution submit, that this was Mr Shah’s enterprise developed and expanded as time went on,” said Mr Langhorn.

Courier Ashraf, who is already serving an eight-year sentence after being stopped with the cocaine, was today sentenced to an extra five years in prison for his admitted part in the conspiracy.

His replacement Rasool, who was recruited by Shah just a few days later, was sentenced to 11 years after also admitting the conspiracy charge.

MORE CRIME: Watch the farcical moment Halifax fraudster tried to con shops with 'slip and trip' compensation claims

Martin Lewis, 54, of Chain Lane, Stafford, who also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, was locked up for nine years.

Jailing the four men Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC described their offending as “a trade of death and destruction” and said Shah had been the “leading light” in trafficking multiple kilograms of high purity cocaine.

In reference to some of the devices used by the group the judge said there was a major battle raging between those in authority and organised criminals.

“The police are having to fight technology that is developing in a dark and dangerous ways at an alarming rate,” said the judge.