Bolton Drugs Gang Jailed

Wednesday, 3 August 2016 09:43

Six members of a drugs gang based in Bolton who supplied drugs on a large scale to drug dealers in the North West were jailed at Preston Crown Court for a total of 68 years.

The gang, led by Dhiren Lad and Mohammed Taymure Khan, was involved in the large-scale supply of class A and class B drugs across the North West and further afield to Bradford, Birmingham and Cornwall.

Between September 2014 and August 2015 they dealt in large amounts of cocaine, heroin, cannabis and amphetamine. Dhiren Lad and Mohammed Taymure Khan lead the drugs operations. Naheem Aslam and Ricky Parmar also had leading roles in the organisation of the drug deals. Waqar Ahmed was a courier for many of the drug deals, using his legitimate occupation as a taxi driver as a cover to deliver drugs all over the country. Mark Samuels was also involved in the storing, adulterating and transporting of the drugs. The drugs were delivered to suppliers lower down the chain for supply on the streets of towns in the North West, including Preston, Blackburn and Rochdale.

In September 2015, the defendants were arrested during a series of raids and arrests by Lancashire Police Serious and Organised Crime Unit under Operation Nexus.

Dhiren Lad pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs and conspiracy to supply class B drugs. He was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment
Mohammed Taymure Khan pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply class A drugs and conspiracy to supply class B drugs. He was sentenced to 13 years 8 months
Naheem Aslam pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply class A drugs and conspiracy to supply class B drugs. He was sentenced to 13 years 8 months
Ricky Parmar pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply class A drugs and two counts of conspiracy to supply class B drugs. He was sentenced to 13 years 8 months
Waqar Ahmed was found guilty after a trial of two counts of conspiracy to supply class A drugs and two counts of conspiracy to supply class B drugs. He was sentenced to 9 years
Mark Samuels pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs and conspiracy to supply class B drugs. He was sentenced to 6 years.

Ben Southam, Deputy Head of the CPS North West Complex Casework Unit, said: "This was an extremely complex case because of the sort of evidence that we were looking at. We were involved from an early stage, advising police on an on-going basis during the operation. There was a huge amount of material to consider, including the analysis of hundreds of calls and texts between the members of the gang as they carried out drugs operations.

"Together with police and prosecuting counsel we built a strong and compelling case that each of these defendants had played a part in the plans to supply drugs in towns and cities in the North West and elsewhere in the country. The weight and detail of the evidence against them persuaded most of them to plead guilty. Through this prosecution and the sentences we have removed a substantial source of heroin, cocaine, cannabis and amphetamines that were being supplied in local communities. We are determined to continue working with our police colleagues to disrupt the operations of drug dealers in the North West and to prosecute them through the courts."

The CPS will now seek to confiscate the criminal assets of Dhiren Lad, Mohammed Taymure Khan, Naheem Aslam and Ricky Parmar under the Proceeds of Crime legislation.

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