Mohammed Faisal and Roohul Amin, who were involved with running Yorkshire College in Bradford jailed for 16 years

Mohammed Faisal and Roohul Amin, who were involved with running Yorkshire College in Bradford for foreign students have been jailed for 16 years at Bradford Crown Court for smuggling heroin into the UK in the post.Two men who ran colleges for foreign students have been jailed for 16 years at Bradford Crown Court for smuggling heroin into the UK in the post.A third man was given 10 years for money laundering but acquitted of smuggling. Another was cleared altogether. All had pleaded not guilty. Yorkshire College, based in Bradford and Manchester, attracted hundreds of students, mostly from Pakistan. Some were legitimate, but for many it was a cover for illegal entry.The two convicted of conspiring to import heroin were Mohammed Faisal and Roohul Amin, who were involved with running Yorkshire College in Bradford.
They and the third man, Ali Ifthikar, were convicted of money laundering.
The fourth defendant, Mohammed Alamgir, was found not guilty on both counts by the jury at Bradford Crown Court. The jury had been told that 13 kg of heroin worth £650,000 was seized by customs officers after a series of parcels were sent in the post from Pakistan to addresses controlled by the men. Other members of the gang have managed to escape justice by fleeing overseas Another 7 kg of heroin was also seized in Pakistan. However much more heroin did reach the men.
Analysis of financial accounts at the college and at a Bradford money exchange business ran by two of the men shows that more than £1.2m in profits was sent out of the country to the north west frontier province of Pakistan. The authorities in Britain say the money is now untraceable, and fear that it might be used to prolong the fighting going on in the area between the Pakistani army and the Taliban.
Several other people involved in the conspiracy have fled the UK and are believed to be in Pakistan. Away from the court, Detective Inspector Gary Curnow of West Yorkshire Police said officers had managed to disrupt a major drugs smuggling gang.
"It's a significant amount from a well organised consortium importing heroin from Pakistan," he said. "These are people who are organised, resilient, and bringing into the country vast amounts of heroin which are then dealt on the streets."
s."A third man was given 10 years for money laundering but acquitted of smuggling. Another was cleared altogether. All had pleaded not guilty. Yorkshire College, based in Bradford and Manchester, attracted hundreds of students, mostly from Pakistan.
Some were legitimate, but for many it was a cover for illegal entry. The two convicted of conspiring to import heroin were Mohammed Faisal and Roohul Amin, who were involved with running Yorkshire College in Bradford. They and the third man, Ali Ifthikar, were convicted of money laundering. The fourth defendant, Mohammed Alamgir, was found not guilty on both counts by the jury at Bradford Crown Court.
The jury had been told that 13 kg of heroin worth £650,000 was seized by customs officers after a series of parcels were sent in the post from Pakistan to addresses controlled by the men. Other members of the gang have managed to escape justice by fleeing overseas Another 7 kg of heroin was also seized in Pakistan. However much more heroin did reach the men. Analysis of financial accounts at the college and at a Bradford money exchange business ran by two of the men shows that more than £1.2m in profits was sent out of the country to the north west frontier province of Pakistan. The authorities in Britain say the money is now untraceable, and fear that it might be used to prolong the fighting going on in the area between the Pakistani army and the Taliban. Several other people involved in the conspiracy have fled the UK and are believed to be in Pakistan. Away from the court, Detective Inspector Gary Curnow of West Yorkshire Police said officers had managed to disrupt a major drugs smuggling gang. "It's a significant amount from a well organised consortium importing heroin from Pakistan," he said. "These are people who are organised, resilient, and bringing into the country vast amounts of heroin which are then dealt on the streets."

Lyle Niemi sentenced to 14 years in prison

Lyle Niemi has been on trial before a jury for the past month in a Barrie court. He has admitted that he was the pilot who flew a small jet engine plane into the Simcoe Regional Airport just north of Barrie on Nov. 7, 2001. But Niemi has insisted he did not know that nine hockey bags that were loaded on his plane contained 269 kilograms of pure cocaine, along with 17 bricks of hashish.

Ijaz Rahim pleaded guilty to importing the class A drug from Pakistan.

Ijaz Rahim, 25, studying for a management diploma at Yorkshire College in Manningham Lane, was desperate to raise cash to pay his second year fees, Bradford Crown Court heard.Undercover officers intercepted the package of heroin and substituted the drug for sugar and flour before putting the parcel into his hands.Rahim pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to importing the class A drug from Pakistan.The student, whom the court was told to be of "impeccable character", was sentenced to six years and eight months in jail.The court heard he fell prey in a moment of weakness to accepting delivery of the heroin, with a street value of up to £90,000.Prosecutor Tom Storey said the Serious Organised Crime Agency intercepted the parcel after it arrived in the country on November 23 last year. It was addressed to a property in Hollins Street, Girlington, Bradford.Officers replaced 16 packages of heroin in the parcel with a mixture of sugar and flour.The 4.41 kilograms of heroin seized had a 62 per cent purity.An undercover officer delivered the package and Rahim answered the door and took it, Mr Storey said.Rahim, of Hanover Square, Manningham, was also linked to a property in Northampton Street, Bradford, the court heard.Before the delivery, Rahim received a text message alerting him to details of four parcels, it was alleged.But Mr Storey stressed there was no evidence Rahim received any other drugs consignments.He said another package of heroin was delivered to an address in Thursby Street, Barkerend, Bradford.A test purchase officer took it to the door after that delivery was also intercepted.Mr Storey said the Serious Organised Crime Agency took over the inquiry from West Yorkshire Police."The Crown says it is part and parcel of a wider picture," he told the court.Judge Roger Scott said: "I call it a conspiracy because that is in essence what it is."Nick de Lapoer, Rahim's barrister, said the student was having difficulty paying his fees while on an educational visa.He worked at a Bradford takeaway called Posh Nosh to boost his income but, said Mr de Lapoer, he borrowed cash from a man and "accepts he knew he was to be involved in a conspiracy"."He found himself impecunious and in the financial power of someone else and he was weak," he added.Mr de Lapoer conceded Rahim prevaricated with the police and his probation officer."He is a young man who found himself in a terrible position facing a very lengthy term of imprisonment," he said.Judge Scott said although it may seem a "mundane" way to smuggle drugs into the UK, very many items arrived in packages from Pakistan.The judge said the heroin had a street value of between £60,000 and £90,000."We are awash with cocaine and heroin in West Yorkshire, as they are in other parts of the world, and courts must send a message out that drug crime is not worth it," he said.The judge said Rahim was "at the end of the line" of the chain."In other areas, you would be described as a mug, but even mugs caught importing heroin get sent to custody for a long time," Judge Scott said.

Afzal Maskeen was surrounded by drug dealing equipment, including plastic bags and scales

Afzal Maskeen, 20, was in possession of 353 grams of the drug with a street value of £2,461, Bradford Crown Court heard.He was surrounded by drug dealing equipment, including plastic bags and scales, prosecutor Lesley Dickinson told the court Maskeen was arrested when drugs officers swooped at his home in Fairbank Road, Girlington, Bradford, in September.He told them the cannabis was for his own use, Miss Dickinson said.He later pleaded guilty to possessing the drug with intent to supply it to others.Abraham Verghese said in mitigation Maskeen had never used Class A drugs and had no previous convictions for drugs offences.He had been thrown out of college for poor attendance and spent three years without a job.His habit cost him £90 a day, leading him to sell the drug to friends.The judge, Recorder Ian Graham, said Maskeen had been caught with "a large quantity of cannabis and all the equipment of a drug dealer"He sent him to a young offender institution for 12 months.

Ateeq Rehman owed money for drugs

Ateeq Rehman, 27, was remanded back into custody today to await assessment after a judge at Bradford Crown Court was told he had served at least four prison sentences since receiving the five-year ASBO in August 2004.Prosecutor Ewan McLachlan said the ASBO banned Rehman, of Haslingdon Drive, Heaton, from entering a designated area which included the grounds of the hospital.He was also prohibited from loitering around parked cars. But last month, Rehman used a screwdriver to smash the window of a car parked on Smith Lane.Recorder Ian Graham was told that Rehman tried to remove the navigation system, but was unable to do so and fled with the system's holder, which he later threw away.After his arrest later that day he told police that he owed money for drugs and had been told if he stole the navigation equipment his debt would be wiped clean.Mr McLachlan said Rehman had a substantial record of previous convictions including theft or interference with motor vehicles and breaching the ASBO.He pleaded guilty to the latest offences of theft and breaching the ASBO at the first opportunity and the magistrates committed his case to crown court.Recorder Graham heard that Rehman could be assessed within a few days and he noted that it was over two years since anything other than custody had been tried with him.Rehman will be remanded in custody until his sentence hearing on February 25.

Bradford man has been charged with supplying Class A

An 18 year old Bradford man has been charged with supplying Class A drugs - heroin and crack cocaine - and possession with intent to supply Class A drugs - heroin and crack cocaine.
He was arrested in November following an operation by the Bradford District Drugs Team (BDDT) in the Folkstone Street area of the city.
He has been bailed to attend Bradford Magistrates Court later this month.
In a separate operation a 28 year old man has been arrested, by BDDT, for possession with intent to supply Class A drugs - crack cocaine and money laundering. He was arrested on Monday at Festival Avenue in Windhill, Shipley and has been bailed pending further enquiries.

Four men have been arrested following an operation by the Bradford District Drugs Team.

Four men have been arrested following an operation by the Bradford District Drugs Team.
A 26 year old man was arrested for possession of crack cocaine after he was observed buying drugs from a vehicle on Ingleby Road.
The occupants of that vehicle - a 19 year old, a 21 year old and a 18 year old - were then arrested for intent to supply class A drugs and supplying class A drugs.
A substantial amount of suspected heroin and crack cocaine was seized along with drugs paraphernalia and cash.
The four men, who are all from Bradford, have been bailed pending further enquiries.