Seven men in county line drugs gang jailed

From top left: Safraz Zahir, Umair Shakeel, Justin Horniak, Mohammed Raja, Asher Buckingham, Tommy Tomassi and Harvey Fox

Seven members of a county lines gang from Bradford have been jailed after admitting transporting more than £1.5m worth of drugs into East Yorkshire.

Safraz Zahir was a passenger in a car stopped by officers in Goole in 2021 which contained a bag containing £1,410 worth of drugs.

A phone was also recovered which was linked to a drugs line.

Zahir was bailed and a team of officers was set up to investigate, Humberside Police said.

PC Claire Dobson, who led the inquiry, said: "Following extensive mobile phone data analysis, enquiries revealed that the drugs were marketed within the Humberside area using specific telephone numbers which were branded and known to drug users within the Humberside area.

"Once established, the lines would be used to market the drugs on offer through bulk marketing messages. When the line became active, messages would then be sent to a contact list of drug users who would then respond and place their orders."

After analysing the phone messages, Zahir's associates Justin Horniak and Mohammed Raja were both arrested at their homes in Bradford.

A further raid was carried out at an address in Newland Grove in Hull where a quantity of drugs, a weapon and cash were discovered.

Three people linked to the property, Tommy Tomassi, Umair Shakeel and Harvey Fox were arrested.

Police said after the drugs had been transported from Bradford, Newland Grove was being used as a what was known as a "stash house" and all seven were subsequently charged in connection with their involvement.

The gang were sentenced at Hull Crown Court

They all pleaded guilty at a hearing at Hull Crown Court to conspiracy to supply class A drugs.

• Safraz Zahir, 29, of Parsonage Road, Bradford was sentenced to nine years and seven months in prison.

• Umair Shakeel, 25, of Ryan Street, Bradford was sentenced to eight years in prison.

• Justin Horniak, 21, of Round Hey, Stockbridge Village, Liverpool was jailed for six years and 11 months.

• Mohammed Raja, 25, of Woodroyd Road, Bradford was sentenced to two years and 10 months.

• Asher Buckingham, 19, of Sandford Close, Hull, received a 24-months rehabilitation order.

• Tommy Tomassi, 22, of Newland Grove, Hull, was also charged with possession of an offensive weapon and received a 24-months community order.

• Harvey Fox, 19, of Green Island, Hull, was sentenced to 18 months, suspended for two years.

PC Dobson said the gang had "no regard for the lives of those purchasing the substances that they bring into our communities".

"This is a business to these dangerous people, with making money being the sole objective," she said.

"We have disrupted a major county lines drug dealing gang, jailing seven people involved in a significant conspiracy, and we will continue to proactively target those we believe to be involved in drugs."