Three more jailed in UK’s biggest drugs bust

LONDON: Three members of a gang responsible for what is believed to be the largest drug smuggling operation ever detected in the UK were jailed on Friday.

A judge at Manchester Crown Court in north west England jailed Sohail Qureshi, 64, for 25 years after he was convicted of plotting to import heroin, cocaine and cannabis.

Khaleed Vazeer, 58, and Ghazanfar Mahmood, 53, received sentences of 20 years and three years and nine months respectively after being convicted of being part of an organised crime gang.

“These criminals supplied unprecedented amounts of drugs right across the UK,” said Richard Harrison, regional head of investigations at the National Crime Agency (NCA).

“They don´t care that they fuel horrendous problems such as children being sucked into dealing drugs... or innocent members of the public being hurt or even killed in the crossfire of turf wars,” he added.

The network smuggled several billion dollars worth of heroin, cocaine and cannabis for drug dealers across Britain from 2015 to 2018, according to the NCA.