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UK: 3 Indians jailed for importing Pakistan-sourced drugs
The Indian-origin men were part of a group involved in smuggling heroin and cocaine hidden in secret compartments in furniture, industrial bolts and clothes imported from Pakistan, France and the Netherlands.
Three men of Indian origin are among five members of a gang jailed for a total of more than 95 years for smuggling drugs from Pakistan, France and Netherlands and selling narcotics worth nearly £10 million pounds in the United Kingdom.
The men were part of a Leicester-based organised crime group that smuggled heroin and cocaine hidden in secret compartments in furniture, industrial bolts and clothes from the three countries.
The three sentenced at the Leicester Crown Court on Monday are Jagdish Patel, 51 (jailed for 25 years), Ravindra Modha, 55 (24 years) and Paulvinder Randhawa, 47 (18 years). Their accomplices, Talib Hussain and Ayaz Hussain, were jailed for 24 and 12 years.
An investigation was launched by East Midlands Special Operations Unit (EMSOU) after a batch of bolts with heroin hidden inside was uncovered, Leicestershire police said.
Working with the National Crime Agency and law enforcement agencies in the Netherlands, Pakistan and France, detectives arrested the five men last year after establishing they were involved in arranging, managing and overseeing the import of drugs and their distribution within the UK.
Detective inspector Harry Rai said: “The sentencing marks the end of a very long and complex investigation that was undertaken over a number of months. The communities of Leicestershire should be reassured that a significant amount of drugs have been prevented from reaching the streets.
“I’m extremely proud of the team who worked tirelessly to bring these five men to justice. This was in part due to the excellent working relationship that EMSOU was able to develop with counterparts in the Netherlands, France and Pakistan, as well as our colleagues at the National Crime Agency.
“In my 22 years in policing and 14 years being part of serious and organised crime investigations, I haven’t come across anything on this scale.”
